Howard Siegel (The Old World)

Howard is the central character and first person narrator of “The Old World”. In his early sixties, his story begins in the aftermath of the relatively recent departure of his wife from their marriage. He takes himself by surprise when he begins a relationship with Svetlana, a decades-younger woman with whom he experiences an emotional and sexual re-awakening. Narration portrays Howard as being somewhat bewildered by what is happening to him, but more than willing to enjoy the situation, since Svetlana also seems to be enjoying herself – at least for a while. Once they marry, and even more so when they go on their honeymoon (to Kiev in Ukraine, from which their families both emigrated), Howard becomes increasingly bewildered and saddened by Svetlana’s deepening, and increasingly apparent, grief: she is frequently in tears, but never fully explains why. Howard is left to make...