Gretel

Gretel is the first person narrator for half of the novel. The narrative follows her search for her mother, Sarah, who disappeared when she was 16 years old. In the story's narrative present, Gretel works as a lexicographer. Her interest in the acquisition and evolution of language, the etymology of words, permeates her portions of the narrative.

Throughout the novel, Gretel struggles to both find and forget her mother. As a child, she was fascinated by Sarah, loved her oddities and free spiritedness. After Sarah abandons Gretel on a bus as a teenager, Gretel spends the next 16 years wondering about her mother's whereabouts. While her search is initially more active, Gretel eventually resorts to calling hospitals and morgues every few months, to see if her mother has resurfaced. Towards the beginning of the novel, she believes she has found Sarah's dead body at a local morgue, but the woman...