I craned my neck, impatient now to grasp my first, real glimpse of Africa. For already, there was the smell of her, beckoning us from the shore—the promise of the unknown, of something infinitely deeper, richer, than anything I had ever experienced in the cold streets of New York.”
-- Lucy (Chapter 2)

Importance: This quote introduces Lucy’s perspective and exemplifies her energetic, romantic voice. Contrasting with Alice’s dull, dusty vision of the streets of Tangier, Lucy sees the new city as full of opportunities for adventure. There is the possibility to reinvent herself in a place so seemingly radically different from the north-east U.S. where she has spent her entire life. Her excitement at reaching Tangier is also comingled with her longing to be with Alice once again, and in her enthusiasm, she reduces Morocco to a series of familiar clichés, just as she has done before with Alice...