Orion Oh

Orion is one of the book’s two central characters and primary first-person narrators: the other is his ex-wife, Annie Oh. Both Orion and Annie struggle with past trauma. In Orion’s case, that trauma involves being raised by a single mother, who was abandoned by Orion’s father and his father’s family. He is clear that his childhood was relatively happy, and there are positive family relationships in his past, particularly with his Italian grandparents. There is, nevertheless, the sense that on some level, the shaping of Orion’s sense-of-self was darkened by the circumstances of his childhood and youth.

Orion’s more recent past, however, is more traumatic than Annie’s. As a result of a series of significant challenges (including a sexual harassment complaint, a student who committed suicide, being passed over promotion, and his divorce), Orion takes drastic action in the hope...