Cornelia (Cora) Boisdoré

Cora is in her early thirties and the elder of the two Boisdoré sisters. She is of African- and European-American decent. She has been acutely sensitive from childhood onward and her mental state is a perennial source of concern for her family. She has been in therapy for years. Unlike her parents and sister, Cora has lived in New Orleans her entire life and, until the end of the novel, has no intention of leaving. In fact, Cora feels so anchored in her home city that she chooses to ignore the mandatory evacuation order preceding Hurricane Katrina and stay through the storm. It is this decision that sets in motion both the emotional and temporal storylines of the novel: Cora’s bearing witness to Reyna’s mental illness, Joe’s failure to retrieve Cora, Tess’s consequent decision to leave Joe, Del’s decision to come...