Josie Moraine, or “Jo” as she prefers to be called, is a 17-year-old living in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She is the protagonist and narrator of Out of the Easy. She works at Marlowe Bookshop and Willie’s brothel, where every morning she cleans and brings Willie her coffee. She lives alone in the upper level of the bookshop in a converted office. Her mother is a mean-spirited prostitute, and she does not know her father. She moved to New Orleans from Detroit as a child and desperately wants to move away.

Josie feels trapped by her mother’s reputation in New Orleans and knows she cannot have the life she wants if she stays there. After meeting Charlotte, she bases her goal of leaving on attending Smith College in Massachusetts. Josie is beautiful despite her lack of nice clothes and shoes. She has feelings for her best friend Patrick, but is also attracted to Jesse Thierry, who she ultimately ends up with. Reading, education, and respectability are all things that she highly values. In addition to being intelligent, Josie is brave and does not allow others to take advantage of her. She carries a gun under her skirt and is not afraid to use it.