Theo Byrne
Theo is an astrobiologist who finds himself suddenly a single parent of a young boy following the death of his wife, Alyssa. That loss has created an emotional vacuum into which Theo is spiraling out of control. In attempt to gain a foothold and ground themselves both literally and figuratively, Theo takes his son on a camping trip in the Smoky Mountains and for a while the effort seems to make a tangible difference. But problems simmering beneath that façade are going to erupt.
Robin Byrne
Robin is Theo’s son who has a long history of disturbing behavioral problems made all the worse in the wake of his mother’s death. Robin’s particular disorder is never made explicitly clear, but seems to be a combination of possibly something along the autism spectrum, ADHD, OCD and, especially, an uncontrollable eruption of violent anger. Robin has followed his mother’s dedicated vegan lifestyle, but also reflects the passionate embrace of environmentalism which stimulates his father. Theo reaches a point of desperation to help his son overcome his problems, however, and reaches back into wife’s past to bring her into the present.
Dr. Martin Currier
Alyssa was also a birder (birdwatcher to most) who friendship with a neuroscientist named Martin Currier became the stuff of teasing that might not entirely be in good fun. In fact, Theo is reluctant to have much to do with Currier since is convinced the still has a thing for his dead wife. Nevertheless, Currier is advancing forward in his experimentations with what he terms “decoded neurofeedback” as a way to deal with emotional disturbance. The math here is simple enough when you add in Theo’s understandable resistance to putting his nine-year-old on drugs and his more extreme resistance to simply trying out a psychological approach.
Inga Alder
Inga Alder is world-famous fourteen-year-old environmental activist who may or may not remind readers of a certain world-famous teenaged environmental activist. Since both Theo and Robin are themselves already predisposed toward her perspective, Inga becomes something a major player in their lives second-hand through TV footage and documentaries. Robin in particular is inspired by her youthful passion about the same things he is interested in and becomes a devotee of her movement. Oh, there is yet another aspect to Inga that both ties her to that real-world model and Robin’s own situation: she is autistic. Only everything changes once Robin discovers Inga, but this, too, fails to last.
Alyssa Byrne
In a novel filled with interesting ideas—as outlandish as some may be—the most interesting is, arguably, that which turns Theo’s dead wife into an unconventionally active participant in the present. Alyssa is presented through memories as a very liberal humanist activist working overtime to try to make the world a better place. With everything else having failed to permanently improve Robin’s condition, Currier finally suggests the most revolutionary idea yet: one which involves Alyssa’s own brain scans and the training of Robin to situate himself within his mother’s own emotional patterns recorded in those scans.
