Written On The Body

The novel’s anonymous, gender-neutral, first-person narrator begins by asking a rhetorical question: “Why is the measure of love loss?” (9). As the narrator reflects on the end of an affair, the narrator equates it to withered grapes left on the vine. The narrator notes that romantic love requires vibrancy and expression in order to remain alive; otherwise, love becomes an idea articulated in clichés, such as “Love is blind” (10), that trivialize the emotion.

The narrator describes an August afternoon spent on a canoe trip with a lover, later revealed to be Louise Rosenthal. Louise decides to swim naked, which upsets a mother picnicking on the riverbank with her husband and children. The narrator juxtaposes this experience with the recollection of an argument on another August afternoon, when the narrator accuses Louise of wanting their relationship to be intensely hot at all times: “92 degrees even in the shade” (12). The narrator asks whether this desire stems from Louise’s Australian nationality and then reflects on the human need for answers to questions. The narrator wonders whether it is better not to ask any questions.

The narrator reveals a number of adulterous affairs and describes a typical conversation in which a lover explains that despite her infidelity, she does love her husband: “He’s not like other men […] We talk” (14).