Maria Wyeth

Maria, pronounced Mar-eye-ah, is the main character of the novel. She is thirty-one, married then divorced, with one daughter, age four. She grew up in a town called Silver Wells, Nevada, a town her father owns. Maria grew up around gambling and expects that many things in life can be won or lost with a simple roll of the dice, with a simple game of chance. This upbringing propels her into a life in Los Angeles where she gambles, in many ways, with her life every day.

Maria marries Carter, a film director, and lives in Beverly Hills. She is an actress and starred in his first two films. Their marriage is a rocky one. They both have affairs during their marriage and Maria gets pregnant during her affair with Les Goodwin and Carter forces her to have an abortion. They divorce soon after. Maria may suffer...