Charlotte / Charley
George’s lonely English friend, whose affection asks for a romantic future he cannot provide.
To escape loneliness and turn emotional intimacy with George into a form of partnership.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeCharlotte is an English expatriate and one of the few people who knew both George and Jim. She needs George as a friend but also imagines that their closeness might become heterosexual romance.
How the book draws them
- StylishShe retains traces of an earlier glamour.
- TiredLoneliness and drinking show around the polished surface.
- NostalgicEngland and shared history organize her sense of belonging.
- Romantically hopefulShe wants something George cannot honestly return.
Their familiar evening becomes painful when Charlotte seeks romantic reciprocity. George needs the friendship, but cannot become the man she imagines.
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