Читать книгу The Official Book Club Guide: The Rules of Seeing - Kathryn Cope - Страница 7

PART ONE – SHAPES

Square

January

On New Year’s Day, Kate Tomassi is in the kitchen of the flat she shares with her husband, Tony. When Tony takes his wallet out, Kate notices a white square of paper flutter to the floor and picks it up. Desperate to retrieve the piece of paper, Tony lunges towards her, and Kate defensively steps back, tripping over a box of wine bottles. She falls and is knocked unconscious when her head hits the kitchen floor. Later, Kate wakes up on the sofa with a throbbing head and realises that Tony has left her alone in the flat.

Meanwhile, Jillian Safinova (known to almost everyone as Nova) meets up with her brother, Alex, who is a doctor. Nova has been blind since birth and Alex excitedly tells her about an innovative new operation that could cure her blindness. Although the operation has an 80 per cent success rate, Nova is ambivalent about the news, questioning whether people who have had the surgery are ‘happy’.

Semi-Circle

February

After consulting eye specialists and psychologists, Nova remains uncertain whether to go ahead with the eye surgery. She travels from her home in London to Oxford to visit her old Modern Languages professor at the university. Professor John Katzner is also blind but was not born so. On learning of the new eye surgery John concludes that, as the experience of losing his sight was so traumatic, he would not want to go through the process of regaining it. He tells Nova that if she ever wants to leave her job as a police interpreter in London, he can find a position for her at the university.

When Tony returns to the marital home, he behaves as if nothing unusual has happened. He denies that he was angry and makes light of Kate’s accident. Kate starts to wonder if she is going mad.

Raindrop

In Oxford, Nova meets up with Rebecca, an ex-girlfriend and theoretical physicist. Nova tells Rebecca she is considering eye surgery and confesses that she is fearful of the outcome. Rebecca encourages Nova to have the operation.

Tony works as a police officer at the MET and Kate is an architect. When she is not at work, Kate spends much of her time renovating a flat that she and Tony plan to move into. Although she has been suffering from headaches since her accident, she has not seen a doctor. Tony pressurises Kate to try for a baby and is annoyed when she suggests they wait until they are settled in their new home. She decides to continue to take her contraceptive pills while pretending to Tony that she is trying to become pregnant.

Circle

Nova goes through with the eye surgery. The operation is a success, allowing her to see, but her brain struggles to interpret the overwhelming volume of visual information.

Meanwhile, Kate narrowly avoids being hit by a falling lintel at work and blacks out.

Cross

May

Kate has been in hospital for two weeks but has no memory of how she got there. Doctors tell her that she has suffered a bleed on the brain, but an operation has successfully relieved the pressure. In the corridor, she sees Nova furiously hammering on a vending machine which has failed to dispense her crisps. Kate helps by strategically buying a chocolate bar which dislodges the crisps on the way down. She makes a hasty exit when a security guard arrives to confront Nova about her mistreatment of hospital property.

Later, Tony arrives just as a doctor begins questioning Kate about how she received a blow to the head. Aware that Tony is watching her intently, Kate takes full responsibility for the accident. She resists the urge to bring up the subject of the square of white paper with Tony.

Heart

June

Nova returns home from hospital and sees her own flat for the first time. Despite intensive rehabilitation, she is still struggling to process what she sees. Kate also returns home but no longer feels comfortable in the flat.

Hexagon

Nova returns to her job as an interpreter for the first time as a sighted person. During one police interview, a suspect accuses her of looking at him in a strange manner. When Nova tells the suspect that she used to be blind, he claims that some Muslims believe blindness to be a malady of the heart and not the eyes. Distressed, Nova leaves the interview before it finishes. On the way home, she has a panic attack and blacks out.

Meanwhile, Kate and her friend, Vi, go to see an action movie. Kate finds the violent images unbearable.

Lightning Bolt

By chance, Kate and Nova end up sitting next to each other in the neurologist’s waiting room. Outside the hospital, they meet again, and Nova asks Kate if she wants to go for a drink.

Triangle

At the pub, Kate and Nova discuss their reasons for consulting a neurologist. Nova explains that, since her operation, she is having difficulty interpreting what she sees. Meanwhile, Kate admits to Nova that she has been suffering from anxiety since her accident. Nova flirts with Kate and, when they part, Kate writes Nova’s mobile phone number on a beer mat, promising to call. When she gets home, however, Kate suddenly feels anxious and throws the beer mat away.

Spiral

November

Nova continues to struggle with her rehabilitation, feeling that her sight is a curse rather than a blessing.

Kate’s anxiety also continues and fresh bruises on her arm bear testament to a recent incident where Tony lost his temper and shoved her. As her anxiety increases, Kate finds it a challenge to leave the flat. She forces herself to go out, intending to buy ingredients for dinner but has a panic attack before she reaches the shops and returns home.

That evening, Tony is displeased when Kate explains that an anxiety attack prevented her from buying groceries. They order a takeaway, but Kate becomes nauseous and goes to the bathroom to vomit. She then thinks she hears her husband leave the flat. Trying to open the bathroom door, Kate realises that Tony must have wedged something against the other side. Trapped, she eventually falls asleep on the cold bathroom tiles.

When Kate wakes up, the bathroom door opens freely, and Tony later claims it must have jammed. She cleans up the kitchen and, behind the bin, comes across the beer mat with Nova’s number written on it. Kate texts her and Nova instantly replies, suggesting that they visit London Zoo together.

Crescent

December

Kate and Nova meet at the zoo. Although Kate initially has doubts at the wisdom of seeing Nova again, she finds she enjoys introducing her new friend to the sight of a whole range of animals. When they see a tiger pacing up and down in its enclosure, however, Kate has a panic attack and faints.

Star

Kate is briefly readmitted to hospital and wakes up with Nova by her side. Newly aware that Kate is married, Nova reveals that Tony has been informed of her admission to hospital. Kate is dismayed by this news.

A week later, Kate invites Nova over for dinner. The evening starts off well but, partway through the meal, Tony grows quiet and the atmosphere becomes awkward. As she leaves, Nova tells Kate she is going to Venice for a month with a friend. Kate realises that she is jealous of Nova’s travelling companion.

Nova goes to Oxford, ready to travel to Venice with Rebecca the following day. In the physics department where she works, Rebecca shows Nova a practical example of nuclear fission, referred to by scientists as ‘star in a jar’. This is prompted by Nova’s complaint that she is still unable to see stars clearly. Nova is moved at this uncharacte‌ristically thoughtful gesture from her ex-girlfriend.

Kate unwraps the Christmas present that Nova left behind for her and is surprised to discover a paint by numbers kit. Touched by the gift, Kate wonders how Nova could have guessed that she has had the urge to paint but has been unable to decide on a subject.

PART TWO – BODIES

Rabbit

January

After completing the paint by numbers kit, Kate has bought several more and works on them in the privacy of the new flat. In Nova’s absence, she broods over the precise nature of her feelings for the other woman.

In Venice, Nova is tiring of Rebecca’s enthusiasm for liquid lunches. While Rebecca spends the afternoons sleeping it off, Nova longs to get out of their hotel room. She wishes she could speak to Kate.

After offering to make dinner, Tony brings home a dead rabbit which he proceeds to skin in front of his wife. Horrified, Kate tries to hide her distress. She locks herself in the bathroom and wards off a panic attack by texting Nova.

Hand

Kate gets home from work to find Tony in the kitchen preparing dinner. Accusingly laid out on the counter are the birth control pills that she has been hiding. Tony slaps her across the face before leaving the flat. Kate empties the contraceptive pills down the sink.

Eye

March

On Nova’s return from Venice, Kate presents her with a camera to help capture the things she sees. Nova tries to broach the subject of the awkward atmosphere at the dinner party but Kate glosses over the subject.

Mermaid

Kate receives a surprise visit from Vi who accuses her of acting strangely. Suspicious of her sudden, intense friendship with Nova, Vi suggests that Kate should take the relationship more slowly. Kate becomes angry and tells Vi to leave.

Nova goes back to see her doctor and describes an unsettling dream she had about a mermaid. While Dr Schulman sees this vivid visual dream as excellent progress, Nova makes it clear that it is an unwelcome development. She explains that learning to see has taken over her life and she fears she may lose her sanity in the process. Nova asks Dr Schulman if it would be possible to return to being blind. He tells her that he cannot perform an operation to reverse her sight but, if she stops using her visual abilities, they will eventually fade.

Lips

At her flat, Kate invites Nova to feel the contours of her face and kisses her as she does so. When Nova responds with surprise, Kate becomes agitated and asks her friend to leave.

Ear

September

Six months later, there has been no further contact between Kate and Nova. Without Kate in her life, Nova makes the decision to give up using her sight and starts to wear dark glasses. She tells colleagues that her eye surgery was a failure and, after a period of ignoring her sight, finds that her ability to see has all but disappeared.

One day, Nova is called in to interpret in a police interview led by Tony. The interviewee is an elderly Italian man who is being questioned solely because he is the father of a suspect. Although the old man seems to know nothing about the case, Tony becomes aggressive and grabs him by the ear. Hearing the old man’s cries, Nova tells Tony to stop. Furious, Tony threatens to report Nova for ‘impeding an interview’. Unsettled by the experience, Nova wonders if she should contact Kate but decides there is little point.

Foot

October

Due to move into the new flat with Tony in two weeks’ time, Kate looks for the mortgage paperwork. When she cannot find it in the usual place, she becomes suspicious and thinks, again, of the incident with the white square of paper. She searches their home and, in addition to signs that Tony might be having an affair, she finds a dozen white squares taped to the bottom of a drawer. On closer investigation, the squares turn out to be envelopes containing a suspicious white powder.

When Tony returns from work, Kate confronts him with her findings. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Kate that the drugs are police evidence, he launches a savage assault on her. When neighbours start hammering on their door, alerted by Kate’s screams, Tony stamps on his wife’s head. Before opening the front door, he hits himself on the head with a paperweight. Unable to move, Kate hears an angry exchange between Tony and the neighbours. They force their way in and tell her that an ambulance is on its way.

Pigeon

November

As a result of Tony’s attack on her, Kate is recovering from cracked ribs, a fractured wrist, a punctured eardrum, and concussion. Tony does not return to the flat, but a colleague picks up some of his things and tells Kate that her husband is taking time off work for therapy.

Kate moves into the new flat alone. She longs to see Nova but realises she deleted her phone number months earlier. Recalling that Nova mentioned a friendship with her blind tutor at Oxford, Kate finds John Katzner’s contact details and calls him. Nova has told John that she no longer wishes to see Kate but he agrees to contact his former student to ask if she might change her mind. Shortly afterwards, Kate receives a call from Nova. Overcome with emotion, Kate breaks down on the phone and Nova declares that she is coming to see her.

Lungs

When Nova arrives at the flat, Kate tells her everything that has happened since they last met. Nova agrees to stay the night but, when Kate asks if she wants to share the bed, insists she will sleep on the sofa. In the aftermath of a nightmare, Kate wakes up screaming. Nova talks her out of her panic attack, teaching her a way to breathe and count.

Unable to go back to sleep, Kate and Nova buy an array of snacks from the 24-hour garage for a midnight feast. On the walk back, Kate stops to admire the moon and Nova admits that she can no longer see. Kate suggests that it would be nice if they could enjoy the moon together and pledges her support, should Nova wish to give sight another try.

Fish

December

Kate and Nova have slept in the same bed for the past month and, in an unspoken agreement, are living together. Despite obvious chemistry between them, their relationship remains platonic. The two women have made a pact: if Nova learns to see again, Kate will try to overcome her increasing fear of leaving the flat.

Kate receives an empty envelope in the post and tries to convince herself that the sender has made an innocent mistake.

Heart

Kate has continued to receive empty envelopes on a regular basis. Keeping her anxieties to herself, she has omitted to tell Nova or the police.

Nova takes Kate to her favourite café and is overjoyed when she orders the Safinova Surprise. Created by Nova, the sandwich is an unusual combination of pepperoni, pickles and peaches.

Butterfly

On New Year’s Eve, Kate receives an early morning call from a withheld number. No one speaks but she is sure she hears a rabbit being skinned on the other end of the line. Shaken by the call, she cannot face leaving the flat. Nova suggests they pass the time by building a fort and the women create a cocoon-like tent in the living room. Inside, they tentatively kiss and then make love.

PART THREE – OBJECTS

Key

January

Kate invites Vi to her flat hoping to heal the rift between them. When Kate nervously reveals the nature of her relationship with Nova, Vi responds positively, relieved that her friend is no longer with Tony. After Vi’s visit, Kate gives Nova a key to her flat.

Shell

Kate and Nova take the ferry to Paris, providing Nova with her first real sight of the sea. Kate has now received a total of fifty-six empty letters.

In Paris, they eat snails, drink absinthe, and kiss in public for the first time. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, they declare their love for each other. The next morning, when Nova leaves the hotel to buy breakfast, she thinks she glimpses Tony but convinces herself that her vision is playing tricks on her.

Car

April

Nova and Kate go out for dinner. When they return to Kate’s flat, they find her neighbour’s pet rabbit hanging dead above the door. Police officers arrive, and Kate admits that she has been receiving empty envelopes. She suggests that her husband is the culprit but feels that the police officers look sceptical when Tony’s name is mentioned. Once they are alone again, Kate brushes off Nova’s attempts to comfort her and shuts herself away in the bedroom.

Rucksack

May

Although a month has gone by since the dead rabbit incident, Kate’s fragile state of mind has not improved. Refusing to set foot outside the flat, she continues to push Nova away. In the meantime, Nova has returned to sleeping on the sofa and confronts the challenges of the outside world alone.

Faced with daily unresponsiveness from Kate, Nova admits defeat. Claiming that she is going to check on her flat, she packs a bag and leaves. She calls the MET to inform them that she will not be returning to her job and texts Kate to say that she is going to Oxford.

Cake

July

Two months after Nova’s departure, Kate is still devastated. She visits her mother, hoping to share her sorrows. Once Mrs Tomassi hears of Kate’s impending divorce, however, she makes it clear that she does not want to hear any further details. Nevertheless, Kate ploughs on, revealing that she is in love with a woman. Her mother tells her to get out of the house and never return.

In Oxford, John Katzner has died unexpectedly, and Nova attends his funeral. Although Rebecca has promised to support Nova through the event, she turns up late and drunk. Nova realises that, without John, very little remains for her in Oxford.

In London, Kate decides to end it all by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She calls Nova’s mobile phone to listen to her voicemail message one last time.

At the funeral reception, Nova notices that Kate has called her and is puzzled by her silent voicemail message. On the verge of calling her back, she is interrupted by the unwelcome news that Rebecca has become ‘unwell’.

Kate briefly regains consciousness after taking the pills and realises that she does not want to die. She calls the emergency services.

Penknife

August

Nova returns from Oxford to check on her London flat and is horrified to find Tony waiting inside for her. Tony reveals that he checked her address before leaving the MET and has been living there in her absence. Before Nova can escape, Tony throttles her and begins to undo his jeans. Grabbing the penknife in her pocket, Nova rams the blade through Tony’s hand, temporarily pinning him to an armchair. Before he can free himself, she runs from the flat.

Nova calls the police and also phones Kate to tell her what has happened. She goes to Kate’s flat to meet with police officers. While the officers promise the women police protection, Kate says she would feel safer if they went away together. Nova tells Kate that their relationship is over but suggests that they could stay at her parents’ house in Yorkshire.

House

When they arrive in Bradford, Nova sees her childhood home for the first time. Kate is warmly received by Nova’s parents, Uzma and Peter. She also meets her brother, Alex. At the end of the evening, Nova kisses Kate, confirming that she is ready to resume their relationship.

Envelope

Nova and Kate spend a carefree day on the Yorkshire moors. Later, they go to a Chinese restaurant and, during the meal, Kate asks about the small, heart-shaped tattoo on Nova’s hand. On the journey back, Kate insists that they stop at a tattoo parlour and has an identical heart tattooed on her own hand. Outside, Nova sees the stars properly for the first time.

Back at the house, a white envelope waits on the doormat. Inside is a note that reads ‘I’m watching you both.’

Gingerbread Man

After informing the police of the threatening note, Kate and Nova find out that Tony traced them by placing a tracking device underneath their car. They take refuge in a hotel and Kate refuses to leave the room. After a week, Nova has cabin fever and leaves the hotel, despite Kate’s warnings that it is unsafe. She spends an enjoyable few hours enjoying the sights of Bradford but, on the way back to the hotel, she is grabbed by Tony who holds a chloroform-drenched rag over her face. Nova fights buts slips out of consciousness.

Planet Earth

Back at the hotel room, Kate has convinced herself that she must end her relationship with Nova. Her musings are interrupted by texts from Tony. Tony reveals that he has kidnapped Nova but claims that he will not hurt her if Kate comes to his hotel room. Kate feels the stirrings of a panic attack but fends it off, knowing she must be strong to save Nova.

Chair

Kate goes to Tony’s hotel room where Nova is tied to the bed, blindfolded and gagged. Tony is holding a kitchen knife and instructs Kate to sit in a chair. As he reaches for a rope to tie her up, however, she launches herself at him. They struggle, and the knife becomes lodged in Kate’s shoulder, but she ignores the pain, continuing to punch Tony until he seems to be unconscious. As Kate reaches for the knife, which has dislodged itself from her flesh, Tony revives and knocks her out with a blow to the head.

Kate wakes on the chair with her wrists bound and sees that Tony is about to pour acid over Nova’s face. She leaps at Tony and, placing her bound hands in front of his throat, strangles him. As Tony falls backwards on top of Kate, the acid splashes over his own face, blinding him. Kate continues to pull on the rope until her husband goes limp. She ties him up, frees Nova, then slips into oblivion.

Raincloud

December

In Kate’s flat, Nova cries as she watches the rain at the window. The melancholic moment is interrupted when Kate arrives home. Nova declares that she wants to stay, and Kate agrees that she can - always.