Wintergirls characters

Appears from the start

An eighteen-year-old high-school student living with anorexia and a history of self-harm. She conceals how little she eats, alters the evidence at weigh-ins, and treats hunger as proof of control. The death of her former best friend Cassie brings intense guilt to the surface.

Also known as Cassie

Appears from the start

Lia's estranged childhood friend, who struggled with bulimia. Her death alone in a motel room, after repeatedly trying to telephone Lia, drives Lia's grief and memories throughout the book.

First appears in chapter 3

Lia's father, a university professor. He wants his daughter to recover but has accepted reassuring measurements and explanations without seeing how persistently she evades treatment.

First appears in chapter 2

Lia's stepmother, who manages much of the household and watches Lia's eating with anxious attention. Her efforts can feel intrusive to Lia, but they come from a clear fear that Lia is becoming dangerously ill again.

First appears in chapter 2

Lia's young stepsister. Affectionate and observant, she looks up to Lia and gives her a connection to ordinary family life that is difficult for Lia's illness to erase completely.

First appears in chapter 5

Lia's mother, a physician who lives separately from David. She understands the medical danger of Lia's condition and is more forceful than the rest of the family about monitoring and hospital treatment, which has made their relationship combative.

First appears in chapter 16

A young motel employee who was working when Cassie died. He becomes a source of information about Cassie's final hours and is drawn into Lia's attempt to understand what happened there.

First appears in chapter 12

The clinician responsible for checking Lia's physical condition. Her appointments are meant to measure recovery, but Lia approaches them as obstacles to outmaneuver rather than opportunities to disclose how ill she remains.