Synopsis of my latest novel, We Met in Ithaca
Death and love are often explained with the loosely defined but widely believed concept of the soul. In this novel, that concept is tested and explored repeatedly in a multi-faceted romance that extends from the worlds of Greek and Biblical myth to the distant future.
Elle and Oz and their other selves through the ages are in some sense two halves of the same soul. They meet in present-day Connecticut, enter a dark abandoned house on a whim, and flirtatiously swap stories, savoring the mystery and possible danger of the venue.
First, they make up stories. Gradually they get the sense that these stories of theirs are inspired, as if by ancient gods. Then they start to feel that they are witnesses inside the stories they tell, watching and hearing them. Gradually, they become actors inside their story worlds, affecting outcomes. Then they see through the eyes and listen through the ears of the characters; they are the characters but are also aware of their separate selves.
As the legendary lovers Odysseus and Penelope and also as Odysseus’ sister Ktimene and his loyal swineherd Eumaeus, they live through stories suggested by but not told in Homer’s classic tale.
The conclusion takes Oz and Elle to a future where people are transferring themselves from their bodies to Mind, a massive computer network so that they will live forever. But Elle and Oz can choose to opt out together.
