Lotus

Oliver was abducted by Bradford when he was six, and his kidnapping is the central event for most of the story. By alternating between Oliver and Sydney, Hartmann shows how trauma impacts survivors (Oliver) and loved ones (Sydney). As Oliver spent 22 years in a cell underground, his arc revolves around adjusting to the contemporary world. 

At first, Oliver is withdrawn and quiet. His narration gives the 21st century a strange, science-fiction atmosphere, making Oliver feel like an alien. Nevertheless, Oliver doesn’t want to be seen as weak or helpless. He sometimes feels disempowered by Sydney and Gabe’s responses to him, and as he says, “I can’t handle their pitying stares and awkward responses to my silence” (59). As the plot advances, Oliver grows. He finds his place within the world and asserts himself. Upfront and sincere, Oliver doggedly pursues Sydney. He showcases strength and agency. His persistence eventually reaches Sydney, and he gets to be in a serious relationship with her.

Unlike Sydney, Oliver doesn’t have overt flaws. Sydney tells him, “I’m envious of you, Oliver. People haven’t desensitized you. Relationships haven’t broken you. Society hasn’t poisoned you” (227). One of the novels Bradford gives Oliver is J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951), where the teen antihero is committed to defending innocence. Oliver rejects the fetishization by briefly acting like the toxic male characters in Sydney’s dark romance novels, but Oliver isn’t “violent” or “cruel.” He’s honorable and heroic, saving Sydney from the attacker. He’s also in touch with his feelings, openly professing his love for Sydney and caring for the injured raccoon, Athena.

Oliver’s unfamiliarity with 21st-century sexual conventions produces many comedic moments. He ironically refers to Tinder as “tender,” and he plays with Sydney’s vibrator as if it’s a wondrous invention. The humor doesn’t make fun of Oliver; instead, it helps to relieve the tension of the novel’s heavy subject matter. By the novel’s end, Oliver is happily married to Sydney and rebuilding his life in a healthy, positive way.

The only character to narrate a chapter besides Oliver and Sydney is Bradford, which makes him the third most important character. Bradford is responsible for abducting Oliver; thus, Bradford creates the inciting event of the novel. 

Bradford didn’t want to kidnap Oliver, and wasn’t supposed to keep him in the cell for 22 years. Travis is the true source of the fundamental event. He hires Bradford to kill Oliver, but Bradford can’t bring himself to murder Oliver, who reminds him of his deceased son Tommy. He thus keeps him alive in the cell instead. 

Bradford is a contract killer, but he’s not an indiscriminate murderer. He maintains what he regards as a personal ethical code, declaring, “My hits have always been clean and fairly guilt-free—drug dealers, shady corporate assholes, cheating scumbags” (592-93). Bradford is capable of love; he loved Tommy, and he tries to ensure Oliver is at least cared for once Oliver is in the cell. Bradford doesn’t abuse Oliver and he tries to limit Oliver’s privations by supplying him with a TV, books, comics, and food. He tells Oliver a nuclear attack has made the outside world unsafe. 

Oliver’s views on Bradford highlight Bradford’s intricacy. Before discovering Travis’s role, Oliver sees Bradford as a completely bad character. He says, “I trusted Bradford. I thought he was my caretaker. My protector. My hero. I feel betrayed in the worst way” (48). Later in the novel, he reflects on how he reminded Bradford of Tommy and regards him as more humane than Travis. By confining Oliver, Bradford “spared” Oliver from Travis’s murderous aims and saved his life, but the years of captivity have still taken a heavy toll on Oliver and his loved ones, which makes Bradford complicit in the trauma they endure.

Clem is Sydney’s older sister. She’s in the process of getting a divorce and has a young daughter, Poppy. She hangs out at Sydney’s bar and has casual sex with Gabe. She’s also playful, calling Sydney a “hoochy”—Sydney calls her a “skank.”

Oliver and Sydney eventually realize that Clem is a survivor of sexual abuse, and that Travis abused her. While her abuse isn’t explored in detail, Clem shares how she hid the truth for many years because she felt ashamed and scared that no one would believe her, which reflects the impact trauma has continued to have on her own life. At the novel’s end, Hartmann gives Sydney a happily-ever-after, with Sydney staying, “Clem looks amazing, healthy and glowing, having made incredible healing strides over the last few months” (679). As with Oliver, Clem faces her trauma and rebuilds her life.

Gabe is Oliver’s stepbrother and Sydney’s next-door neighbor and best friend. Gabe is Oliver’s foil in terms of relationships, as Gabe prefers casual sex and tries to persuade Oliver to let go of Sydney and experience different sexual partners. Sydney accuses Gabe of being the attacker, which creates a momentary red herring in the plot. 

As Gabe winds up in a serious relationship with Tabitha, he too eventually decides to pursue a more committed relationship, just as Sydney does. Gabe and Tabitha’s story becomes front and center in The Stars On Our Side, which explores both of their traumas in detail.

Travis is the antagonist and villain. He’s Clem’s abuser, Sydney’s attacker, the reason why Bradford kidnaps Oliver, and the Faceless Man in Oliver’s comics. Before the story reveals Travis’s “evil” character, Travis comes across as unremarkable. He’s Gabe’s father and Oliver’s stepfather, and his main contribution to the plot is adding tension by offering Oliver money and a place to stay, which upsets Sydney. Travis’s ability to blend in and appear harmless adds to his wickedness, reinforcing his duplicity. 

During the narrative, he breaks into Sydney’s house several times and threatens her. At the novel’s climax, he once again breaks in and tries to murder Sydney and Oliver by setting the house on fire. His plan is foiled when Lorna hits him with her cane and Gabe rescues Sydney and Oliver. Travis survives the fire, but now faces a lengthy prison sentence.