Whisper Network

Ardie, one of the main characters, does not adhere to the feminine beauty standards, instead presenting as unfashionable and frumpy. Moreover, she is blunt, generally enjoys solitude, and does not hide her distaste from those she dislikes. Ardie’s honesty is appealing to those who love her—she is loyal and interested in helping those she believes deserve it, even when this does not directly benefit her. Recently divorced, Ardie misses her husband, Tony, and has partial custody over their son, Michael. Ardie tutors Rosalita’s son and joins Sloane in suing Ames.

Ardie has long despised Ames, who raped her eight years earlier. Worried about Ames attacking Katherine, Ardie ends up partially responsible for Ames’s death, which she keeps secret from her friends.

Beautiful, blond, and heir to a trust fund, Grace identifies as a compassionate conservative, which makes her uphold patriarchal ideas about blaming women for men’s misdeeds and dismissing sexual harassment as misunderstood attraction. Becoming a mother interrupts Grace’s easy passage through life. Unable to accept that she may be suffering from postpartum depression, Grace resents herself for caring more about her job than her baby. As a consequence, Grace lies to get the rest and space she needs without admitting to her struggles.

Grace’s privileged and archaic views on women’s issues are forced into stark relief during the story. For much of the book, she believes that her friends are being melodramatic about Ames because he has never done anything bad to her directly. Only after Ames manipulates Grace into writing him a recommendation for the CEO position does Grace stop her misogynistic tendency to give Ames the benefit of the doubt. Ultimately, she joins her friends in their lawsuit.

Ames, the antagonist of the book, is the President of North American Legal Affairs at Truviv—the novel’s other characters work under him. When the CEO of Truviv dies, Ames is poised to take his place. The world has given Ames a free pass to be a sexual predator—a prolific harasser and rapist who wields his male privilege and professional power over the women around him to get what he wants, and whose company is willing to pay, sue, and obfuscate to protect him in the face of accusations. After his pursuit of the new hire, Katherine, other women in the office start to talk more openly about Ames’s despicable behavior; it turns out almost all have been negatively impacted by him. Ames’s violent need for control and inability to take no for an answer eventually lead to his death. 

Rosalita is a hard-working, single mother who has been a cleaner at the Truviv offices for many years. Taking advantage of the power differential between them, Ames raped Rosalita when she first started cleaning at Truviv. She became pregnant from this assault; her son Salomon is now the light of her life. Most of the novel’s white women characters find it awkward to interact with Rosalita because she is a poor person of color; however, Ardie has developed a more substantive relationship with her, tutoring Salomon so that he can get a scholarship to a private school for gifted children. Rosalita does not wish to be like the women in the office, but often resents that she was never given a seat at the table and fears that her son will someday look down on her. Because she is generally ignored by the white-collar office workers, Rosalita is the closest thing this novel has to a detective, finding clues that confirm Katherine’s affair with Ames.

Katherine is a pretty new hire at the office. Ames’s interest in Katherine becomes quickly apparent; soon, Grace sees a keycard for the hotel where Katherine is staying in Ames’s wallet. Self-protective and motivated by career ambition after getting fired for being a whistleblower, Katherine keeps her cards close to her chest. To move up the corporate ladder, Katherine denies that Ames harassed her when the other women file their lawsuit. Because the lawsuit relies heavily on Katherine’s account, her denial is a slap in the face. It turns out that Katherine gave Ames the final push off the building; her silence earns her a promotion.

Cosette defends Truviv from the women’s lawsuit against Truviv; she also heads the team filing Truviv’s retributive countersuit. In the deposition transcripts between Chapters, Cosette is sharp-witted, if not mean and smug. Sloane, who helped Cosette get the job in the first place, is shocked that this woman would work to betray other women.

Al is the HR director to whom the women must meet with after filing their lawsuit. Ardie also met with him following her rape eight years earlier. He is useless and insulting both times.