Mr. Bradford

Mr. and Mrs. Bradford are neighbors of Shoba and Shukumar. Shoba and Shukumar see them walking by, arm in arm, on their way to the bookstore on the second night of the power outage. TheBradfords seem to be a happily married couple and as such provide a contrast to Shoba and Shukumar. The narrator mentions that theBradfords placed a sympathy card in Shoba and Shukumar's mailbox when they lost their baby.

Mrs. Bradford

Mr. and Mrs. Bradford are neighbors of Shoba and Shukumar. Shoba and Shukumar see them on the second night of the power outage, and Shukumar sees them again, through the window, on the last evening of the story. The first time theBradfords appear, Mrs. Bradford asks Shoba and Shukumar if they would like to join her and her husband on their walk to the bookstore, but they decline.

Shoba

Shoba is a thirty-three-year-old woman...