Thirty-year-old Nina Lee Hill, the protagonist of the novel, is a white, single woman living in Los Angeles. Because her mother often traveled the world in pursuit of her photography career, Nina was primarily raised by a kind nanny named Louise, and she never knew her father. Prone to anxiety, Nina is fascinated by people but also needs solitude to maintain her emotional equilibrium. She has an active imagination and schedules activities to keep her mind busy, but she also sets aside time for reading.

Moltres, a mechanic and minor character in the story, characterizes Nina as having “a fascinating mix of spacy and sassy” (291), which illustrates Nina’s quick wit and sharp tongue. Nina tends to relate the events of her life to scenes from movies, television, and books. She has a good memory and loves trivia, though she considers herself poorly informed on sports. Nina tends to think less of people who lack cleverness, avoid reading, or have little imagination. Although she often comes across as shy, she is able to hold her own in an argument and defend herself, and she also finds it easy to establish new friendships.

Although she doesn’t think of her parents as having abandoned her, Nina suspects that she has been shaped by the distinct absence of parents in her daily life.