The Book of Two Ways

Wyatt is Dawn’s first love. She met him as a student on her first dig in Egypt. At first, they see each other only as competition, as they are specializing in the same area. Wyatt is British, a member of the aristocracy, and in line to become a marquess. Wyatt’s family does not support or understand his passion for Egyptology; when they are students, he tells Dawn that his “father has made it quite clear that I’m to get over this childish fascination I have with Egypt, to quit being Indiana Jones and come home and work in an investment bank and make gobs of money” (164). Upon first meeting him, Dawn believes him to be entitled and arrogant, although later she comes to understand that this is a persona that Wyatt cultivates.

When Dawn sees Wyatt for the first time after 15 years, “All the remaining light in the room is drawn to his hair, still gilded, a crown for a prince” (46). She often sees Wyatt as golden, or glowing, a motif throughout the novel. When they are younger, she sees him as entitled; later, she understands that the facade he presents hides his insecurities.

Wyatt shows that he never stopped loving Dawn. He searches for her after she leaves. He writes and emails her, but his letters come back unopened. He looks for her online, but she has married and taken Brian’s name, and so he is never able to find her. When they reunite 15 years later, his passion for Dawn is undimmed. After the plane crash, when Wyatt finds her in the hospital, “a smile breaks over his face, and it feels like a sunrise inside me” (358). His love is steadfast, and when they reconnect, he is determined to be a part of her life. Upon finding out that Meret is his daughter, he immediately wants to be a part of her life as well, but is sensitive to the family dynamics involved.

Brian is Dawn’s husband. She met him at her mother’s hospice just after she returned from Egypt. Brian’s grandmother, who raised him, was in the same hospice with Alzheimer’s disease, and their relationship began with a common experience of shared grief. After Dawn’s mother died, she finds out that Brian’s grandmother had died two weeks previously; he had been coming to the hospice just to support her.

This is characteristic of Brian. He loves Dawn deeply, and supports her and Meret with the same care. He is a physicist, and as such, claims only to believe in science, exclaiming, “Thank Albert!” a reference to Albert Einstein rather than God (198). He is also methodical, as evidenced by his attempts to win Dawn back; he does research, finds a list in a magazine, and checks off each item as he accomplishes it. He has recognized a weakness in his approach to their relationship, and addresses it in the only manner he knows—as a scientist.

In the end, Dawn realizes that one of the main reasons she loved and married Brian was that she “chose safety and security over Wyatt” (268). Wyatt was “like stepping outside, unprepared, into a heat that took [Dawn’s] breath away” (121). In contrast, Brian was “more like being able, finally, to exhale” (121). Yet she recognizes the strength of Brian’s character, as evidenced by his willingness to get to know Wyatt so that Meret can have both men in her life. Brian pretends to have to miss Meret’s tennis match in order to give Wyatt the opportunity to attend, and Dawn reflects: “It is one of the purest, humblest gifts I have ever received” (396). Brian is a good man who is willing to put his own feelings aside in consideration of Meret, and for the preservation of family relationships. 

Meret is Dawn’s 14-year-old daughter. She is very smart and interested in science, as reflected by her bedroom decor, which includes “a vintage Adolphe Miloot insect graphic and overblown photos of microscopic onion epidermal cells and elodea root” (48). Meret struggles with body image issues and bullying throughout the novel. Because she does not see herself reflected in either of her parents, Meret feels like an outsider in her own family. At the end of the novel, when Wyatt shows her a picture of himself as a child, “chubby, husky, with round cheeks and the hint of a double chin,” she finally sees herself reflected in a parent (379). This relieves Meret’s mind and provides a solid connection between her and Wyatt as they build on their new relationship.

Dawn’s relationship with Meret is one of Dawn’s main concerns, and she evolves her parenting style during the course of the story. Though Meret is initially angry and impatient, she is an intelligent, caring person, and meets her mother’s efforts at a more honest relationship with open arms. By the end of the novel, Meret is confident as she takes Dawn for a haircut post-surgery, and gets half of her own hair shaved in solidarity.

Dawn realizes that Meret is “the glue [...] that connects this oddly shaped group of people before me” (394). Because of their common love for Meret, Dawn, Brian, and Wyatt are determined, at the end of the novel, to develop lasting relationships and a new sense of family.