This Lullaby characters

Appears from the start

An eighteen-year-old preparing to leave for college after spending the summer organizing her mother's latest wedding. Efficient, stylish, and wary of dependence, Remy treats romance as a temporary arrangement and prefers to end relationships before anyone can hurt her. Her late father's one famous song is the unwelcome basis for other people's belief in lasting love.

First appears in chapter 2

A cheerful, impulsive musician who becomes immediately interested in Remy. He is untidy, persistent, and comfortable expressing affection, making him a poor match for the orderly, low-risk relationships she usually chooses. He plays in the local band Truth Squad with his close friends.

Appears from the start

Remy's mother, a successful romance novelist about to marry for the fifth time. Barbara believes intensely in each new love despite the evidence of her previous divorces. Creative and emotionally hopeful, she depends on Remy's practical help with arrangements and crises.

Appears from the start

Remy's older brother, a gentle, absent-minded young man whose emotional openness contrasts with her guardedness. He is devoted to his girlfriend Jennifer Anne and is willing to build a relationship without the rules Remy uses to protect herself.

Appears from the start

Barbara's newest fiancé, a car dealer entering a family accustomed to husbands coming and going. His approaching marriage creates much of Remy's early workload and gives her another case against which to test her certainty that adult love does not last.

Appears from the start

One of Remy's closest friends, sociable and emotionally direct. Her own troubled relationship makes it harder for Remy to reduce every romantic problem to a clean breakup, and the friends' summer conversations repeatedly test the advice Remy gives so confidently.

Appears from the start

A sharp, observant member of Remy's close group of friends. Chloe understands Remy's dating rules and defenses but does not always accept the conclusions Remy draws from them, offering a perspective that is loyal without being uncritical.

Appears from the start

Remy's quieter friend, marked by the earlier loss of her parents and less willing than the others to treat emotional attachment casually. Her experience gives the group's discussions of love, risk, and family a perspective Remy's rules cannot fully contain.

Appears from the start

Chris's affectionate and highly organized girlfriend. Jennifer Anne embraces plans, domestic rituals, and visible commitment with an enthusiasm that Remy finds excessive, though her steady place in Chris's life challenges the family's expectation that relationships inevitably collapse.

First appears in chapter 4

One of Dexter's Truth Squad bandmates and housemates. Lucas is more grounded than Dexter and helps Remy see the loyal, makeshift family surrounding the band beneath its poor organization and uncertain professional prospects.

First appears in chapter 4

A member of Truth Squad whose talk, rehearsals, and daily disorder are part of the communal life Dexter introduces to Remy. His friendship with the other musicians shows that their ambitions matter to them even when the band appears chaotic from outside.