The cast of characters in this novel is practically endless. The list is comprised of both real-life and fictional participants, including Gore Vidal himself, who makes an appearance at a party thrown by Peggy Guggenheim. Historical figures are brought into fictional being and no doubt enriched by Vidal's experiences meeting the denizens of Washington through his grandfather, Senator Thomas P. Gore. The two main characters of the novel, Caroline and Peter, are fictional, but most everyone with whom they interact are historical figures.

The interaction that Vidal presents between real-life and make-believe allows him to play with history and fill in all the juicy bits that we always imagined were there, but which are left out of the history books.

Caroline, a former movie star and a former publisher, allows Vidal to look at both worlds, Hollywood and Washington, with ease. Equally at home in the White House...