Rereading entails not only impenetrable sentences but also the entangling introduction of characters: two sisters Aqua and Marina (a portmanteau name) who marry two cousins of the same name, namely Walter D. Veen with alternate appellations (Demian or Dementius or Demon). Desiree, the “fidgety twin,” and Stella, “a smart, careful girl,” make their break from stultifying rural Mallard, Louisiana, becoming 16-year-old runaways in 1954 New Orleans. It is a love story, an erotic masterpiece, a philosophical investigation into the nature of time. by Diana from A Research Guide Don't know how to start your paper? edited by . The story follows the various interruptions and resumptions of their affair. Ivan Veen: The free-wheeling son of an aristocratic family. Van remembers, eighty years later, how he fell in love with Ada. Ada; or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle Summary & Study Guide Description. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Bennett's novel plays with its characters' nagging feelings of being incomplete—for the twins without each other; for Jude’s boyfriend, Reese, who is trans and seeks surgery; for their friend Barry, who performs in drag as Bianca. It would seem that there might be an element of wish-fulfilling fantasy here, of self-indulgence bordering on privatism. And as for that general reader, Caveat caviar. The saving grace of Antiterra is that its inhabitants long for another “more deeply moral” world to which they might escape. Ada has a devastating effect on the frail mortals with whom she comes in contact. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Brian Boyd All rights reserved. All Rights Reserved. & This summer of 1884 is the first of four consecutive summers that he will spend there. . They later discover that Van's father is also Ada's and her mother is also his. Married to Demon Veen and believes she is the mother of Van. It calls up Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the book's 50-year-old antecedent. Brian Boyd They might be roughly divided into victimizers and victims. Or both? The story of their relationship is given in this lengthy novel. Bennett is deeply engaged in the unknowability of other people and the scourge of colorism. All this is expertly paced, unfurling before the book is half finished; a reader can guess what is coming. translated by He matures from schoolboy to scholar of psychiatry to retired traveler. They dream of a paradise called Terra “on the opposite side of the cosmic lane” where cruel appetite and pride have been dispelled. After Andrey dies a few months later, Ada and Van live together for the rest of their lives. He is called Van and in the middle of the twentieth century, he decides to reconstruct his past. At this visit, he learns that Ada has been unfaithful to him and walks out of Ardis Hall. Dali and Others (Reynal & Hitchcock, p. 138), whose critical brilliance is well adapted to this type of satire. Kin “[find] each other’s lives inscrutable” in this rich, sharp story about the way identity is formed. LITERARY FICTION, by Olga Voronina He attends boarding school and spends his winters at his father's home in Manhattan. When Van, out of conscientious... Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Ada or Ardor study guide and get instant access to the following: You'll also get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and 300,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.