Ellie

Ellie is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. In the narrative present, Ellie has just “finished college,” “moved to Washington, D.C.,” and taken “an entry-level journalism job at a news website called Apogee” (6). She lives in a community house called 1938 House with her friends, Mallory, Adrian, Nick, and Katherine. She is in a relationship with a married man named Lucas, who she met through one of her work assignments. Although she is “the most adult” she has “ever been,” Ellie remains consumed by her familial dynamics and affairs (7). Her ability to engage in her personal life in the narrative present becomes increasingly challenging in the wake of her father Jim’s unexpected death. Throughout the entirety of her life, Ellie has relied upon her relationship with Jim for a sense of safety and security. Their close relationship has also defined her understanding of...