Joan

Joan is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. Throughout her early childhood, Joan lived a relatively idyllic life with her mother and father. Much of her childhood’s magic was inspired by her relationship with her father, a man she believed loved her more deeply than her mother ever could. Despite her attachment to her father, Joan longed to care for and be cared for by her mother. She constantly wanted to be around her, to sit with her while she bathed, to sleep with her at night, to smell her next to her. Her mother, however, was cold and distant, making Joan feel abandoned and dismissed.

When Joan was just 10 years old, she was raped by an older man while she and her parents are vacationing in the Poconos. Just days later, Joan noticed a coldness forming between her parents. She then woke...