Alicia Western

Alicia, the novel’s protagonist, is a remarkable and vivid character, as troubled as she is brilliant. The novel consists mostly of her speech, with Dr. Cohen interrupting only occasionally, usually asking follow-up questions and trying to keep up with his gifted patient.

While the dynamic between the two evolves throughout the novel, she begins their conversations in a prickly fashion, noting her skepticism of talk therapy, her complete derision for antipsychotic medications, and her skepticism of psychology as a practice, writ large. Still, part of her also seems resigned to engaging in this context, and it is clear she has a history of speaking with psychiatrists - she asks knowing questions and often correctly guesses Dr. Cohen’s reply or next line of inquiry. She can also be very funny, and regularly makes jokes with Dr. Cohen, when she isn’t feeling adversarial or withholding (which...