There are many characters to become familiar with but don’t let that daunt you. They will become familiar with repetition or a character list can be used. This is an amazingly perceptive and psychologically sophisticated theme that doesn’t spare the realities of life’s difficulties but introduces them slowly in characters you feel like you are getting to know in a meaningful manner and depth that grows over time as the story progresses. Possibly, Sybil’s understanding of Larry McMurtry’s novel, Lonesome Dove, describes this. She has read the novel three times and speaks of McMurtry’s merciless, unsparing of the tragedies that befall the characters, especially Gus and Call. She applauds McMurtry’s courage not to spare his characters the difficulties when he knows his readers will want them to be spared. But, she reports, this would hinder the realism he doesn’t skimp on. Such is true with Sybil’s life. In her last reading of Lonesome Dove she views this as courage on McMurtry’s part that helps emphasize the extraordinary vitality of Gus and Call who are fully engaged in the ventures they are involved in without disrupting their goals or behavior in pursuit of those goals. This is insight helps one appreciate the characters and also helps mitigate the effect those painful experiences have on the suffers interpersonal relationships. Sybil is not a person who can be simply described. She is multifaceted, complex and very intelligent. Her personality changes as she ages and learns. She is fundamentally a kind, caring person as illustrated by what her friends say and how many friends she has. She can also be blunt, too stubborn and angry but she is a lovable human with flaws no one is without.
This is a story worthy of more than one read.
There are not no any spoilers in this that I am aware of. I have no connection to the author or anyone associated with the publication of the novel.