Alyson can explain how she feels but I doubt that either could explain their own behaviour. Who knows what really goes on ‘inside the bone box?’ Nicholas can explain, from a neurological perspective, how the brain works. Each addicted to self-destructive behaviour, each aware of the risks. Neither character is particularly likeable, but both are recognisable. Nicholas as observer, perhaps, while Alyson is kept focussed by her anger. Nicholas’s chapters draw their titles from events or memories largely external to Nicholas but in which he participates, while Alyson’s chapters have only her name. Mr Ferner alternates chapters between Nicholas and Alyson. Both Nicholas and Alyson are aware that change is needed, and while they work towards the what and the how, they reflect on the past. Two unhappy people, each with addiction issues, each with security issues, each blaming each other (and others) for the problems they have. Alyson, who despises him for his weight gain, has an alcohol addiction. ‘Operating was now the only thing, other than eating, that gave him a sense of purpose and identity, and if he continued to gain weight, he’d sooner or later be unable to continue.’ He is morbidly obese and although he’s largely been able to ignore the impact of his obesity on his marriage, he can’t ignore the limitations it’s starting to impose on his professional life. Nicholas Anderton is a consultant neurosurgeon. ‘He walked slowly any kind of exercise seemed a form of expiation.’
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