Benton “Ben” James Kessler

Benton “Ben” James Kessler is one of the main characters and a first-person narrator in this novel.

Ben serves as the catalyst in the novel. He is the one who set the fire in which Fallon was injured. He set the fire because he was angry with Donovan. Ben wrongly believed his mother had died by suicide because Donovan had broken off their relationship. It is only later that Ben learns his mother died because she had been diagnosed with non-treatable cancer.

Ben is again a catalyst when he interrupts Fallon and Donovan’s lunch to support Fallon in her decision to move to New York. He is angry with her father for trying to convince Fallon that her career is an actress because she has scars. Ben is attracted to Fallon. When she tells him she will not date him seriously until she is...