A golden doctor marries his rich patient—and slowly drowns in her.
Who drives the story
A brilliant Yale-trained psychiatrist who marries his wealthy patient, believing love can cure her. Charm, drink, and drift consume his gifts; he ends up a small-town doctor nobody remembers.
A rich, damaged heiress institutionalized after abuse by her father. She leans on Dick as healer and husband, then finds the strength to leave him and marry Tommy Barban.
A teenage Hollywood actress who falls for Dick on the Riviera beach. She rises to stardom as he declines, ending in pity for the man she once adored.
A Franco-American soldier-of-fortune who defends Nicole's honor and duels for it. Years later he becomes her lover and second husband.
Also in the story
The Swiss clinic psychiatrist who first pairs Dick with Nicole as a therapeutic friend, then partners with him—before easing him out when the drinking gets bad.
Nicole's controlling older sister, who disapproves of Dick from the start and bails him out of a Roman jail when he hits bottom.
An alcoholic composer and fixture of the Divers' circle whose drinking wrecks him; he is murdered in a New York speakeasy.
Nicole's father, whose sexual abuse of her as a child caused the illness Dick is hired, in effect, to manage.
How they are connected
Nicole Diver (née Warren)Dick Diver
She leans on Dick as healer and husband, then finds the strength to leave him and marry Tommy Barban.
Nicole Diver (née Warren)Tommy Barban
She leans on Dick as healer and husband, then finds the strength to leave him and marry Tommy Barban.
A teenage Hollywood actress who falls for Dick on the Riviera beach.
The Swiss clinic psychiatrist who first pairs Dick with Nicole as a therapeutic friend, then partners with him—before easing him out when the drinking gets bad.
Franz GregoroviusNicole Diver (née Warren)
The Swiss clinic psychiatrist who first pairs Dick with Nicole as a therapeutic friend, then partners with him—before easing him out when the drinking gets bad.
Nicole's controlling older sister, who disapproves of Dick from the start and bails him out of a Roman jail when he hits bottom.
Baby WarrenNicole Diver (née Warren)
Nicole's controlling older sister, who disapproves of Dick from the start and bails him out of a Roman jail when he hits bottom.
Nicole's father, whose sexual abuse of her as a child caused the illness Dick is hired, in effect, to manage.
Devereux WarrenNicole Diver (née Warren)
Nicole's father, whose sexual abuse of her as a child caused the illness Dick is hired, in effect, to manage.
Go deeper
The healer who needs healing · Money as a quiet form of power · Charm as a decaying asset · Trauma and who pays for it
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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