Characters
- June Nealon — Mother of Elizabeth and Claire, wife of Jack and Kurt
- Elizabeth Nealon — June's daughter by Jack, her first husband. She was one of Shay Bourne's victims. She was sexually abused by Kurt before she died.
- Kurt Nealon — policeman at accident, then June's husband. He was one of Shay Bourne's victims
- Claire Nealon- Kurt and June's daughter, needs a new heart
- Shay Bourne — accused murderer of Kurt and Elizabeth. He has been on death row for eleven years. He wishes to donate his heart after his execution to Claire.
- Michael Wright — UNH college student, member of the jury, priest, Shay's spiritual advisor
- Lucius DuFresne — Prisoner in the state prison in Concord. He has HIV, is an artist and has the cell adjacent to Shay. Lucius is in prison because he killed his lover, Adam in a fit of jealous rage.
- Alma — prison nurse
- Calloway — white-Supremacist prisoner in the I-tier
- Maggie Bloom- ACLU lawyer who takes on Shay's case.
- Oliver — Maggie's pet rabbit
- Dudley- June and Claire's 13 year old Springer Spaniel. He is the last connection between Elizabeth and Claire.
- Dr. Wu — Claire's cardiac physician. He encourages June to take Shay's heart.
- Rabbi Joel Bloom — Maggie's father
- Judge Haig — Judge that presides over Shay's trial to control his method of execution.
- Dr. Christian Gallagher — Doctor who provides Maggie with information on organ donation and eventually becomes her lover and the physician on record for Shay's execution.
- Grace Bourne — Shay's sister, she was disfigured in the fire that sent Shay to juvenile detention. She was sexually abused by a foster father when she was thirteen. She was the one to tell June that Kurt was sexually abusing Elizabeth.
- Ian Fletcher and his now-stepdaughter Faith from Picoult's novel, Keeping Faith also make a cameo appearance in the novel.
Read more about this topic: Change Of Heart (novel)
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