Plot: Allison’s plane lands in New York on a wintry November afternoon in 1998. Allison strikes up a friendship with Hooman and a new world, both disturbingly beautiful and sublime, rises up to meet them.
Allison’s plane lands in New York on a wintry November afternoon in 1998, where she will begin a MA in philosophy at Columbia University.
In New York Allison reconnects with an old friend, Nava, who introduces Allison to her brother Hooman. Allison strikes up a friendship with Hooman.
Allison had begun to experience strange altered mental patterns that she feared could be an emerging madness, but with Hooman’s help she eventually finds rhythms of convergence in her life within a mystical framework of ideas hidden within old Egyptian funerary texts, like the Book of Gates, and mystical texts written by Baháʼu’lláh, the prophet founder of the Baháʼí Faith.
Together, Allison and Hooman come to realize that the world they knew never existed to begin with; a new world, both disturbingly beautiful and sublime, rises up to meet them, and they will never be the same again, connected as they are through time and space.
4. Selected Characters in Order of Their Named Appearance in the Novel
Allison Bird
She is the main character and makes her appearance in the opening scene in Chapter 1. All the other characters surrounding her are mirrors to her own unusual and eccentric world view. Even though the other characters around her are more mainstream, her love for them shows that we all can exist together in harmony regardless of differences in personality. Allison is a photographer and philosopher and explores these two occupations as she drives around Australia during the course of a year and later in her life when she moves to New York to study philosophy at Columbia University.
Paul Bird
He is the brother of Allison. He is first mentioned in Chapter 1. He is more conventional and not as artistic or intellectually articulate as Allison; nevertheless, Paul’s love for his sister will help her navigate her life and all the challenges she faces in New York.
Nava
She is Allison’s best friend. Nava’s vibrant and warm persona touches Allision deeply and all those around her. Nava is the ‘feeling’ comedian in the story and is always bright and enthusiastic about life and the people she encounters in her world.
Hooman
Hooman first appears in Chapter 2. He will later become Allison’s boyfriend and will eventually become her husband. On deep emotional and intellectual levels, he finds Allison’s unique way of perceiving life and reality more expansive and enriching than what he has experienced in past relationships. With her, he is introduced to a love that will resonate in him for the rest of his life. Hooman’s boss is Paul Nightingale, who has a daughter called Alison. He is the son of Rose Nightingale, who sits next to Allison on her flight to New York. The symmetry of names is an important feature of the novel and is mentioned briefly in the previous section and more deeply in Appendix 4. (Spoiler alert: It is best not to read that appendix before reading the novel as it reveals plot points.)Hooman’s boss is Paul Nightingale, who has a daughter called Allison. There is another Paul Nightingale mentioned, the taxi driver, and another, the son of Rose Nightingale, who sits next to Allison on her flight to New York. The symmetry of names is an important feature of the novel and is mentioned briefly in the previous section and more deeply in Appendix 4.
Shidan
Shidan comes into the story in Chapter 6, but is first mentioned in Chapter 4. He is Allison’s intellectual equivalent and close friend. He is a collector and dealer of rare manuscripts. Together they travel and share their deep connections and interests in language, writing, and books.
Jessica
Allison’s life in Harlem begins with her connection to the young African-American children like Jessica, whom she introduces to the relationship between art and identity through photography, particularly the issues surrounding racial and class separation in America. It is in Chapter 9 that Jessica enters the story and she enriches Allison’s life as she settles down to a new life with Hooman and Nava in Harlem.
Jonny
Allison’s real love of children becomes clear when she meets a quiet and shy African-American boy who lives in her street in Harlem. Jonny joins Jessica and other children and they begin to learn how to use 35mm cameras as they explore their life and identity in Harlem through photography. Jonny’s character enters late in the story in Chapter 21 and he shows that racial difference is a beautiful reality even in a world that has yet to come to terms with its own diversity.
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