The narrative details the relationships and backgrounds of several characters connected to Mariatu, a young woman from Sierra Leone who lost her hands during the civil war. Mariatu'
Sulaiman:Lives in Freetown, Mariatu’s uncle, who is very nice, bringing candy from Freetown when he visits, and likes to play with the children, not the adults. He is a businessman in the Dovecut shopping area in Freetown
DEAD - Payed for everyone else's treatment, but not his own.
Adamsay: Marie's child, very nice, and is best friends with Mariatu
Abibatu: Helps take care of Mariatu and her family
Fatmata: Helps take care of Mariatu and her family
Abdul (uncle): Mohamed's uncle, looked the same and had the same jokes as him.
Alie: Marie's Husband, also helps take care of Mariatu.
Marie: Marie is Alie's wife, and takes care of Mariatu. Marie is not Mariatu's actual parents although she takes care of Mariatu, she is her Father's favourite sister, and sent Mariatu to be taken care of by Marie and Alie
Mohamed: 17 years old at the start of the story, chubby, optimistic, and tries to make everyone laugh, even when sad things are happening. Mohamed also loses his hands due to the rebels in Sierra Leone
Ibrahim: 18 years old at the start of the story, tall and thin, bossy, and had epilepsy. Ibrahim lost his hands due to the rebels in Sierra Leone
Musa: Mariatu's child love
Salieu: Creepy older man who was promised to be Mariatu's wife. *DEAD*
Salieu is important because he is Abdul's father which Mariatu gave birth to. Salieu and Mariatu had Abdul because Salieu raped Mariatu in the bush, where they would hide from the rebels. Salieu is one of the reasons why Mariatu had extreme bouts of depression, and happiness.
Mariatu: This book is written in Mariatu's POV. She is a female who does not have hands due to the civil war in Sierra Leone, and was born in Sierra Leone on May 25th 1986.
Kadi and Abou: Two nice people, who has a party with Mariatu, and helped their nieces and nephews from Sierra Leone affected by the war by bringing them to Canada. They also help took care of Mariatu when Bill sent her over to them.
Mariama: Person who is from Sierra Leone, and is helping those affected by the war. She lives in England, and provided an apartment for Mariatu, Yabom, and the others to live in.
Father Maurizio: Part of an italian group that helps donate money to those affected by the war. Father Maurizio helps Mariatu a lot by sending her clothes, and many other things.
Bill: Person who was kind and generous enough to send Mariatu and her familly money and clothing almost every month, bring Mariatu to Canada in the end.
Yabom: Social worker, propsing to bring Mariatu to England to meet a man named David who wants to make prosthetic hands for her.
Comfort: Social worker who introduced Mariatu to bill. Comfort also helped bring Mariatu to Canada, where Mariatu is right now.
Mariatu's dad: Married to two women, which is common in Sierra Leone. Sampa is the older wife, and Aminatu is the younger wife.
Aminatu: Mariatu's mother, but does not live with Mariatu
Sampa: Mariatu's dad's first, older wife, had 3 children with him, the first 2 died quickly, and the third died due to sickness. The third child was called Satignie, and went to live with Marie. Sampa was a person who wanted a lot of attention, and fought a lot with Mariatu's mother (Aminatu). Eventually Sampa decided to take Satignie back, and Marie (the person who was taking care of Sampa's third child) was very sad. To make up for Marie's sadness, Mariatu's father decided to give the second child Aminatu was expecting (Mariatu).
Abdul (baby): Created due to Salieu raping Mariatu. Lived to the age of 1, and died due to malnourishment.
