Madeleine Hanna

Madeleine Hanna is a literature major at Brown University during the 1980s and one of the novel’s two protagonists. The major narrative thread in the novel concerns Madeleine’s romantic relationship (and eventual marriage) with Leonard Bankhead, who suffers from manic-depression (now more commonly known as bipolar disorder). Madeleine’s progression as a character involves her gradual realization that she cannot put her own life on hold in order to “save” Leonard from his problems.

Madeleine’s other main relationship in the novel is with Mitchell Grammaticus. Although Mitchell pines for a romantic relationship with Madeleine throughout the narrative, Madeleine only ever really sees him as a friend. This is demonstrated through there being notably less discussion of Mitchell in the sections told from Madeleine’s perspective, in comparison to the sections told from Mitchell’s perspective which show an obsessive preoccupation with Madeleine.

Madeleine was...