Two Nights in Lisbon

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to sexual assault.

From its opening pages, the novel encourages the reader’s curiosity about who John is and what his relationship with Ariel is based on. While it initially appears that Ariel is a deceived wife, it becomes apparent she, too, is hiding something. Both characters show that while deception can facilitate wrongdoing, it is also a useful tool to pursue justice and subvert traditional sources of power.

The Lisbon police begin from the premise that Ariel does not know John or that he is lying to her. Ariel admits this is possible: “She knows only what John has chosen to share with her […] but that’s true of everyone, isn’t it? Pasts can be reinvented” (75). Ariel’s private calm and her acceptance that others are unknowable and trust may be tenuous, hint at depths she does not show. By this point, the reader knows, though the police do not, that Ariel changed her name and previously was a wealthy socialite. Ariel knows that everyone can construct a self that “looks like it’s been there forever, even though it’s a brand new fabrication” (76). Ariel’s nonchalance implies that, whoever he was before, John is a valued part of her life, and that is sufficient for her.