Doris
A dying woman whose past affair with Jim forces jealousy and mortality into the same hospital room.
To endure the final stage of an illness that has narrowed the world around her.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeDoris once had a brief affair with Jim. By the time George visits her, terminal cancer has made old jealousy feel both persistent and strangely irrelevant.
How the book draws them
- Physically frailIllness dominates the hospital encounter.
- Emotionally unfinishedHer past with Jim remains unresolved in George’s memory.
- DistantHer physical condition exceeds the emotional history he brings.
- MortalThe visit places one death beside another approaching one.
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