The town, and Miles' life to a large degree, is controlled by the Whitings, a rich family that owns the local factories and much property.

Miles is separated and later divorced from Janine, who has become a cocky, selfish person after losing weight and exercising rigorously.

This is partly due to encouragement from Walt Comeau, the antagonistic owner of a local fitness center who visits the Empire Grill daily and has moved into Roby's old house.

A blue-collar gentleman with his principles intact, he lives in an apartment over the restaurant he has managed ever since he dropped out of college to look after his dying mother.

A former alcoholic, a reformed marijuana plant grower, and a car-crash survivor, David is the chief cook at the Empire Grill.

His talent brings a considerable amount of business to the diner, providing ethnic dishes that attract a much larger crowd.

Charlie's involvement is a pivotal contributor to Miles' reasons for remaining in Empire Falls his entire life.

Both his father and grandfather had had shrewd business sense, short stature, and thoughts of killing their wives - all qualities that C.B.

His father called him back to Empire Falls, where he took up the family business as well as an unhappy marriage to Francine Whiting.

The manipulative Francine holds puppet strings over the town, in particular Miles, and has no problem pulling them when it suits her unscrupulous agenda.

A football star who is an obnoxious and cruel punk, Zack gets away with his bad behavior because of his popularity and his father's status as a police officer.

Bea owns Callahan's, the local bar that she used to run with her late husband, serving both lunch and drinks.

Father Mark—A friendly priest and political activist, who after a brief run-in with the law, was moved to Empire Falls by his residing Cardinal.

Miles has offered to paint the church for free, although his progress is slow because of how much time he spends chatting with Father Mark.

While he's known for being generally offensive and for his love of the word "peckerhead", Father Tom has forged a curious and inexplicable friendship with Max Roby that has everyone suspicious.

Otto Meyer, Jr.—Principal of the high school and a childhood friend of Miles', he is an honorable man who watches out for students like John and Tick.

When Zack begins flirting with her in an effort to make Tick jealous, Candace has no problem dumping her previous boyfriend for a chance with him.

[1] In the New York Times, critic A. O. Scott praised the novel, writing "Russo's command of his story is unerring, but his manner is so unassuming that his mastery is easy to miss.

"[2] Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Ron Charles pointed to the author's ability to empathize with difficult characters.

"What’s remarkable about Russo is his willingness to climb into the minds of the vain, the stupid, the stubborn, even the cruel, and discover in their vulnerable souls the germs of dormant humanity.

"[3] Publishers Weekly called the book Russo's "biggest, boldest novel yet" and predicted brisk sales.

[4] The novel was adapted as an eponymous, two part mini-series that aired on HBO in 2005, produced by Marc E. Platt, and starring Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dennis Farina, Joanne Woodward, and Paul Newman (in his last live action role).

The establishment remained open under the Empire Grille name but closed six years later, due to a depressed local economy.