1897
Agnes Robson (14) – daughter of a coal miner from Ashington Colliery. Art student.
Jeremy Robson (11) – brother of Agnes.
Mrs Sadie Robson – their mother.
Mrs Alice Denby – mother of our heroine, Poppy Denby (b.1898). Wife of a Methodist minister.
Revd Malcolm Denby – father of Poppy. Methodist minister.
Christopher Denby (2) – brother of Poppy.
Michael Brownley – art teacher.
1900
Claude Moulton – a Parisian artist and Agnes’ lover.
1924
Poppy Denby – arts and entertainment editor for The Daily Globe. Amateur detective.
Dot Denby – Poppy’s aunt. Former suffragette and leading lady on the West End stage.
Grace Wilson – Dot’s companion. Former suffragette and bookkeeper to the Women’s Suffrage and Political Union (WSPU).
Delilah Marconi – actress, flapper, and socialite. Poppy’s best friend.
Rollo Rolandson – senior editor and owner of The Daily Globe. Poppy’s boss.
Yasmin Rolandson (née Reece-Lansdale), KC – barrister. Rollo’s wife.
Daniel Rokeby – press photographer. Poppy’s former beau.
Agnes Robson (41) – world-famous artist.
Gerald Farmer – Agnes’ business manager and publicist.
Gus North – Agnes’ studio assistant.
DI Sandy Hawkes – police detective inspector with Newcastle CID.
Peter MacMahon – journalist with the Newcastle Daily Journal.
Walter Foster – journalist with the Morpeth Herald.
Dante Sherman – curator at the Laing Art Gallery.
Maddie Sherman – Dante’s mother and Aunt Dot’s neighbour in Newcastle.
Mr Helsdon – caretaker at the Laing Art Gallery.
Jimmy Jackson – stable boy at the Laing Art Gallery.
Professor Reid – head of Newcastle Art School, Armstrong College.
Edna Storey (12) – art student in Ashington.
Mrs Storey – Edna’s mother. Owns a sweet shop in Ashington.
Betty – Aunt Dot’s char.
Sister Henrietta – runs St Hilda’s home for unwed mothers and women in distress.
Mrs Northanger – patron of St Hilda’s.