Tiller Bardmon

Tiller Bardmon is the first person narrator and main character of the novel. In the narrative present, Tiller is 20 years old, and lives in a town he refers to as Stagno, with his girlfriend Val, and her eight-year-old son Veej. Tiller met Val and Veej at the airport food court on his way home from a trip abroad. Shortly thereafter, they started a relationship and moved in together. In his life in Stagno, Tiller neither attends school nor works. He spends his time attempting to protect and care for Val and Veej. Despite his efforts to enjoy his self-proclaimed purgatory, Tiller grows increasingly restless, and his narrative shifts accordingly into the past.

Prior to Stagno and his time overseas, Tiller lived in Dunbar, New Jersey with his father, Clark. When he was a child, Tiller lived with both his parents. He longed for closeness with his mother...