Paul

Paul is the narrator of Enigma Variations, telling the story of his various relationships from childhood to older age. The novel begins with the story of Paul as a young child—only 12—and his first love, an older man named Nanni. Each subsequent section of the novel records Paul’s speculations about love, time, and mortality as he weaves in and out of relationships. Over the course of the novel, Paul engages in five significant relationships with both men and women, each one leaving a unique and lasting impact on him.

As Paul pursues his relationships, he continually speculates about the problems of transience, identity, and love. In the opening pages of the novel, Paul describes his relationship with his father, which is idyllic, open, and loving: together, the two “spoke of everything” (9). Even when, years later, Paul discovers that his father concealed his homosexuality from Paul, Paul...