Laurel Wolfe

Laurel Wolfe is one of the novel’s two protagonists. Her sibling is her twin sister Daphne. Laurel is born and raised in Larchmont, New York. She has a close bond with her sister, and they both develop a love of words and language at a young age. They attend college together and then move to New York City together. Laurel finds a job working as a kindergarten teacher, despite having no teaching experience. She generally enjoys the job but does not find it completely fulfilling. She eventually meets and marries a man named Larry. Laurel becomes somewhat jealous of Daphne when Daphne begins to become a fairly high-profile writer.

After Laurel becomes pregnant, she decides to quit her job to focus on raising her baby. For a year, almost all of her time is consumed with taking care of the baby. One day, she takes an...