What the River Knows

Inez Olivera is the novel’s protagonist and primary narrator. She has struggled with loneliness all her life because her parents spend half of every year away in Egypt. The description she provides of herself in the Prologue reflects how much her understanding of herself revolves around her parents:

I was a perfect blend of the two. I had my mother’s hazel eyes and freckles, her full lips and pointed chin. My father gave me his wild and curly black hair—now gone over to complete gray—and his tanned complexion, straight nose, and brows (2).

Even though her parents have been absent for much of her life, they are key to Inez’s sense of identity. This, combined with her insatiable curiosity, compels her to journey to Egypt to investigate their disappearances. Her tenacity is another one of her defining traits: “Mamá called it stubbornness, my tutors thought it a flaw. But I named it what it was: persistence” (28). Inez demonstrates boldness, resourcefulness, and resolve in her quest for answers, from jumping out of a moving carriage to disguising herself so she can sneak aboard her uncle’s ship.

As the protagonist and narrator, Inez guides the novel. Her search for the truth about her parents drives the plot, and her rivals-to-lovers dynamic with Whit adds an element of romance.