Alone with You in the Ether: A Love Story

A central motif in the novel, art helps illustrate the novel’s themes and propel the plot and characters toward change and discovery. Regan works as a docent at the art museum in Chicago, giving tours to visitors and describing the artwork. She has always had a passion for art but never considered herself an artist, only a replicator. When Aldo asks to see her art, Regan considers it a threat to her image: “Art. She’d never been good at it, not really. Not in the way he would expect from her […] Her art wouldn’t satisfy him because it wasn’t art at all, it wasn’t anything. Art was emotional truth and she had none of that” (168). After Regan meets Aldo in the armory of the art museum, her life course changes paths, and nothing is ever the same. Nocturne: Blue and Gold by James McNeill Whistler, is Regan’s favorite work in the museum because it asks nothing and expects nothing. Instead, it just captures a moment.

Aldo helps inspire Regan to finally start creating. She first proves to herself that she can decipher art by replicating others’ work and then decides to draw a nude portrait of Aldo.