Alone with You in the Ether: A Love Story

One of the novel’s two protagonists, Regan is part of the love story that unfolds: “With Regan, everything came down to sacredness” (3). This statement implies that Regan is highly emotive and philosophical. She begins as an art museum tour guide who aspires to be an artist but is still recovering from her past mistakes and from the emotional damage of her past and family life. Regan enjoys touring others around the museum and describing the art, but she hates the way that they never seem interested in what it really means or the techniques behind it. She often sees herself in the paintings that surround her, and she craves the ability to create her own. Regan has mood swings that her psychiatrist believes require medication. She was caught counterfeiting foreign bills and almost went to jail but managed to convince the judge that it was really her mental health that needed addressing, highlighting the theme of Navigating and Accepting Mental Illness. This is something that Regan has spent her entire life doing, and though she lives an erratic and impulsive life, this begins to change when she meets Aldo.