David Bourne

In his mid-twenties, David was born in the U.S. and raised by his father in East Africa. David is on his honeymoon with the beautiful, capricious Catherine, a woman he has known only four thrilling weeks. He was an aviator during the First World War and published his second novel shortly before this story opens. The semi-autobiographical novel is about flyers in the war, and shortly after their marriage, it receives rave reviews. David's publisher sends him fat oversized envelopes full of press clippings, which Catherine comes to resent.

For several weeks after the wedding, David does not write. The couple's adjustment problems begin when David starts writing. He rises before dawn and writes until mid-morning each day. At first, his work focuses on his life with Catherine. After he sleeps with Marita, however, David interrupts this narrative to begin a new set of short stories...