Character guide

Captain Zorinsky

supporting

Also known as Zorinsky

A courteous captain whose crooked, cynical smile and unnervingly precise questions make him the most dangerous kind of acquaintance in revolutionary Petrograd.

Melnikoff

major

Also known as Dmitri Dmitrievitch Melnikoff, Dmitri

A student-days revolutionary turned trusted comrade, moving through the crowds of 1917 with the quiet authority of someone who has waited his whole life for the cataclysm.

Mrs. Marsh

supporting

Also known as Marsh

A woman whose neatly executed escape across the frontier becomes a quiet test of loyalty, discretion, and who in Petrograd can truly be trusted.

Stepanovna

supporting

Also known as VI Stepanovna

Unreasonably outspoken and disarmingly honest, she argues about opera singers and Bolsheviks alike, refusing to soften her opinions even when silence would be safer.

Dmitri Konstantinovitch

supporting

Also known as Dmitri

A familiar presence in the cramped flats and whispered conversations of Petrograd, where every casual encounter might carry the weight of the Extraordinary Commission.

Uncle Egor

supporting

An older voice of hard-won experience, offering the kind of plainspoken counsel that keeps a man alive when the city itself has turned informant.

The Doctor

supporting

The Doctor moves through the city's shabby consulting rooms and locked studies as a man who treats patients and secrets with equal discretion. When the narrator mentions sharing whisky with the vanished Melnikoff, his composure breaks — he bolts the doors, checks the stairs, and whispers, 'Why on earth didn't you come before?' His suspicion of Zorinsky and his blunt revelation that Melnikoff has no sister turn him into the narrator's most valuable ally, a quiet counterweight to the swindlers closing in.

Ivan Sergeievitch

supporting

Also known as Sergeievitch

Ivan Sergeievitch belongs to the circle of ordinary Petrograders — servants, opera-goers, contrabandists — who keep the narrator grounded while he moves through a city of surveillance and hunger. His voice carries the book's quiet irony: the same people who now fill the Imperial theatres with schoolchildren and 'comrades' once queued for the Narodny Dom. Through him the reader feels how revolution reshapes not just politics but taste, manners, and the small treacheries of survival.

Maria

supporting

Also known as Poor Maria

Maria exists at the edge of the narrator's dangerous errands — spoken of, worried over, never quite within reach. When he tells Grisha to pass along that he has left the city for good, he adds, 'Does Maria know?' and learns she has not been seen for two weeks. Her absence becomes one more thread of loss in a story where the people you love are always one step ahead of the knock at the door.

Mr. Marsh

minor

Also known as Marsh

A male member of the Marsh family with a role in the household.

Comrade Morozov

supporting

Also known as Morozov

Comrade Morozov belongs to the class of men the narrator must flatter and evade — the 'comrades' whose devotion to the Soviet regime buys a little safety and a lot of unease. He is felt rather than seen in the early chapters, a name that colours conversations about who now fills the Marinsky and who deserves to hang. His presence sharpens the book's central tension: in a city where everyone performs loyalty, even a casual remark can be a confession.

Varia

minor

A female character with a notable presence in the story.

Vera Alexandrovna

minor

Also known as Vera, Alexandrovna

A woman of some social standing who appears in several chapters.

The Finn

minor

A mysterious or recurring figure from Finland.

Elena Ivanovna

minor

A female character with a minor role.

Mr. Markovitch

minor

A character who appears in the story briefly.

Badaev

minor

A minor character mentioned in the text.

The Little Policeman

minor

A minor law enforcement figure.

Grisha

minor

A younger character who interacts with the main protagonists.

Martha Timofeievna

minor

An older female character with a minor but distinct role.

Vasili Petrovitch

minor

A character involved in military or political events.

Pavel Ivanitch

minor

A character who appears in the narrative with limited scenes.

Fita

minor

A minor character mentioned in the story.

Michael Ivanitch

minor

Also known as Michael Ivanitch Schmit

A character with a brief but named appearance.

Monsieur Marsh

minor

A French-inflected version of Mr. Marsh, possibly a separate character.

Madame Marsh

minor

Another Marsh family member, possibly Mrs. Marsh's counterpart.

Vania

minor

A minor character mentioned in the narrative.

Shura

minor

A minor character with a few mentions.

Michael Mihailovitch

minor

A minor character with a patronymic name.

Varvara

minor

A female character with a small role.

Otto Pertz

minor

Also known as Herr Otto Pertz

A German character appearing in the narrative.

Sasha

minor

Also known as Dear Sasha

A character addressed in correspondence or dialogue.

Captain Cromie

minor

Also known as Cromie

A British naval officer involved in the events.

Ivan Pavlovitch

minor

A character with a brief appearance.

Ivan Ilitch

minor

A minor character in the story.

Joseph Krylenko

minor

Also known as Krylenko

A historical Bolshevik figure who appears as a character.

Henry Esmond

minor

A literary reference or character name in the text.

Joseph Ilitch

minor

Also known as Joseph Afirenko, Afirenko

A minor character with multiple name variants.

Nicolas Nicolaevitch

minor

A character with a patronymic name, likely a noble.

Alexei Fomitch

minor

Also known as Fomitch

A minor character in the narrative.

Dr. Ziv

minor

Also known as Dr. G. A. Ziv

A doctor who appears briefly in the story.

Alexander Vasilievitch Markovitch

minor

Also known as Markovitch, Alexander

A character with a full name, appearing in limited scenes.