Colette hopes that her work with the YMCA will provide some solace through helping others affected by the horrors of war.Ĭolette and Hazel spend a weekend in Paris, where James and Hazel reunite during James’s leave. Her whole family died, as well as her childhood sweetheart, Stéphane. Hazel is immediately drawn to Aubrey’s cheeky and confident sense of humor.Ĭolette lived in Dinant, Belgium, until it was sacked by German forces in 1914, in what many call the Rape of Belgium. Here, she meets Colette, a Belgian volunteer with a beautiful singing voice, and Aubrey, a jazz musician from Harlem. She is stationed at the American camp Saint-Nazaire. Meanwhile, Hazel volunteers to go to France with the YMCA. They spend the rest of the week together, until James is sent to France. James and Hazel dance and are smitten with each other, with some assistance from Aphrodite (the goddess oversees all budding romances). James encounters Hazel for the first time at a parish dance in Poplar in 1917 Hazel is playing the piano. They join the proceedings in the Manhattan hotel room.
Aphrodite summons Hades and Apollo to assist as witnesses. This story comprises the frame narrative through which the primary stories of the novel-the love stories between James and Hazel, Aubrey and Colette-are told. Aphrodite suggests that she is misunderstood and lonely and says that she will present evidence of mortal love stories to explain her case. Hephaestus rules that they should hold a court case examining Aphrodite’s infidelity, which she candidly and immediately pleads guilty to.
They are interrupted and imprisoned in a golden net by Hephaestus, the god of fire and the forge and Aphrodite’s husband, who has discovered their affair. The novel opens in a Manhattan hotel where Ares, the god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, passion, and beauty, are involved in a passionate love affair. This study guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word. This guide is based on the 2019 Viking Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) edition.Ĭontent Warning: This guide contains references to racial prejudice, racial violence, and racial slurs that appear in the novel as well as general violence and trauma. Through her tale, Aphrodite explores the redemptive nature of mortal love, which she envies above all else. These stories are told through a frame narrative, recounted by the Greek goddess Aphrodite to a group of fellow Olympian gods and goddesses, as part of a court trial in which she is accused of infidelity by her husband, Hephaestus. Berry’s book tells the stories of two couples involved in the Great War (World War I).
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