To Paradise Summary

To Paradise Overview

Hanya Yanaghihara's novel To Paradise spans three centuries and traces five protagonists' pursuits of freedom. In Book 1, David Bingham realizes his entrapment after his grandfather endows him with the family estate. Meeting a charming young bachelor heightens his desperation for freedom and adventure. In Book 2, David is comfortable in his relationship with Charles until he receives a letter from his estranged father. Over the course of a single evening, David begins not notice the horrifying parallels between his and his father Wika's habit of using romance to quell loneliness. In Book 3, Charlie lives in dystopian New York. Her life is defined by confinement and restriction until she meets a curious man named David. David not only changes how she sees herself, but allows her to imagine a world beyond the one her grandfather, Charles, created for her. Embracing unconventional narrative forms and presenting a range of distinct narrative voices, To Paradise deftly interrogates what it means to be free, to be loved, and to be oneself.