Robin is an extrovert and makes friends easily. A gifted pianist, she studies at Juilliard and walks out of a concert tour in Scandinavia without a word of goodbye to anyone. After abandoning music, she buys a property in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, which she fences into a compound for wolves. She stores derelict pianos in her barn and plays them from time to time. She roils with feelings that she usually does not confide to anyone until long after they have passed. The voice of tough love in Dual Citizens, Robin has a habit of abandoning situations and people, although she usually comes through when needed most.
Lark, Robin’s older sister, is an introvert. She so seldom speaks at school that teachers are surprised that she is even in the room. She describes herself as a hoarder of bits and pieces of information. A born worrywart, she nonetheless puts herself through university and turns herself into a professional film editor. Along...
Allan Hepburn is the James McGill Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at McGill University.