Madeline Schwartz

Madeline Schwartz is the protagonist of the novel. The third person narrator follows her story most closely over the course of the narrative. When Maddie is 17, she pursues a relationship with the married painter, Allan Durst. She eventually loses her virginity to him, and later terminates a pregnancy while they are together. Shortly after Allan ends the affair, Maddie marries Milton Schwartz, solidifying a Jewish relationship which satisfies her conservative parents. Three years later, despairing at her inability to conceive, she revisits her affair with Allan. She rushes home afterwards to have sex with Milton, and discovers shortly thereafter she is pregnant.

Years later, when their son is a teenager, the couple has Maddie's old school friend Wallace Wright over for dinner. When he mentions Allan, Maddie suddenly realizes she does not love Milton, and plans to leave him. After she moves out, she realizes how difficult...