Mrs. Orlando in “The Fears of Mrs. Orlando”

Mrs. Orlando in “The Fears of Mrs. Orlando” is a woman consumed by her anxieties, which range from the mundane to the absurd. Her fears pile up into a kind of inventory that reveals the fragile balance of her daily life. Through her, Davis captures how the very act of worrying becomes both a form of self-expression and a trap.

Wassilly in “Sketches for a Life of Wassilly”

Wassilly in “Sketches for a Life of Wassilly” appears only in fragments, presented through a series of notes and imagined details about his life. He is less a fully fleshed character than a figure assembled out of observation, memory, and speculation. This fragmentary portrait emphasizes the instability of narrative itself, as much about the act of writing as about Wassilly.

The narrator of “Break It Down”

The narrator of “Break It Down” is...