Narrator

The narrator is an unnamed woman from London, Ontario. In London, she was married to Donald, a dermatologist. The narrator and Donald decide to rent out the basement apartment of their house. They rent the house out to Nelson and Sylvia. Shortly after the couple moves in, Nelson and the narrator begin an affair. When confronted with the affair, Sylvia leaves Nelson while Donald leaves the narrator. After making love one final time, the narrator packs up her belongings and leaves to live in Victoria. In Victoria, she opens a bookstore and rents a one-bedroom apartment that has a fold-up bed that retracts into the wall. Business is slow at first, but eventually picks up. Missing her husband and her lover, the narrator befriends a couple, Charlotte and Gjurdhi. It is while she visits Charlotte in the hospital that she hears the story of Lottar, a creation of...