The Sense of an Ending characters

Appears from the start

A retired Englishman looking back on his school days, early relationships, marriage, and divorce. Tony considers himself peaceable and ordinary, but he repeatedly warns that memory is selective. His account of youth forms the evidence he will later have to reconsider.

Appears from the start

The intellectually formidable boy who joins Tony's school friendship group. Adrian is grave, precise, and willing to challenge easy assumptions, qualities that make Tony and the others admire him.

Appears from the start

Tony's university girlfriend, reserved and difficult for him to read. She brings him home to meet her family, but their physical and emotional caution becomes a source of resentment between them.

Appears from the start

Veronica's mother, whom Tony meets during a strained weekend with the Ford family. She treats him with an informality and kindness he does not receive from the others and gives him a private warning not to let Veronica dominate him.

Appears from the start

Veronica's confident older brother. Tony finds Jack's ease and worldly manner intimidating during his visit to the Ford home.

Appears from the start

One of Tony's two closest friends before Adrian joins their circle. Alex shares the boys' appetite for argument and their self-conscious wish to appear intellectually independent.

Appears from the start

A member of Tony's school friendship group, alongside Alex and later Adrian. Colin participates in the group's debates about history, philosophy, sex, and adulthood.

First appears in chapter 2

Tony's former wife and continuing friend. Margaret knows his habits well, listens to his account of the unexpected inheritance, and cautions him against turning the mystery into a romantic adventure.

First appears in chapter 2

Tony and Margaret's adult daughter. Susie has children of her own and remains on cordial terms with both parents after their divorce.

First appears in chapter 2

A vulnerable middle-aged man whom Tony sees with a group of disabled adults. His identity and connection to the Ford family force Tony to revise the story he has constructed around Adrian and Veronica.