Lily Bloom

Lily Bloom is the narrator and main character of this novel. Lily is a dynamic character as she is critical of her mother, Jenny, because Jenny stays with Lily’s father even though he is abusive. As an adult, Lily finds herself in an abusive relationship. This experience helps Lily understand why it was so difficult for her mother to leave her father.

Lily chooses to break the cycle of abuse because she wants her daughter to have a better relationship with her father, Ryle, than Lily had with her father. Lily’s love for her father was overshadowed by the hate she felt for him as a result of the way she saw him treating her mother.

Even though Lily loves Ryle, she admits to herself she has been unable to get closure on the relationship she had with Atlas, her first love. When Atlas appears...