Dara Durant

Dara Durant is the main character of the novel. The third person limited narrator focuses on her thoughts, feelings, and experiences most closely. Dara grows up with her mother, father, and twin sister in an old family home. Life seems nearly perfect to Dara for a while. She and her sister are best friends, and they adore their mother, who teaches them about everything from ballet to love. Then one year, one of her mother's favorite students, Charlie, comes to live with the family. Instead of ruining their dynamic, Dara believes that Charlie's presence only heightens the love between him. Then one day she discovers that her mother has been forcing Charlie to perform sexual favors for her. Because Dara has fallen in love with Charlie, and begun having sex with him herself, she feels angry and desperate to escape. She and Charlie formulate a plan to...