54 pages • 1-hour read
Summer in the City
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Character Analysis
Elle Leon
Elle Leon, the protagonist of the novel, is a 27-year-old screenwriter who is guarded and fiercely independent. She built a career on the foundation of anonymity to avoid being associated with her billionaire father, David Salazar, and the risk of having her accomplishments devalued by theories that her father’s connections or wealth bought her success when, in reality, she’s worked hard for every ounce of it.
Her personality and her values are defined greatly by her mother’s teachings. Her mother “raised [her] to be fiercely independent” and to “never rely on anyone else or let anyone else control [her], especially a man” (22). After witnessing her mother’s over-reliance on her controlling father and suffering through the period of low income and instability following her parents’ split and her father’s abandonment, Elle has come to view Money as a Tool of Control. Her experience with her father led to her false belief that all wealthy people are the same, especially in regard to wealthy men as romantic prospects. She believes that wealthy men have an impulse to pay for whatever they wish, including a significant other. She watched her mom fall victim to her father’s wealth and, later, watched her sister Cali do the same. Elle deeply fears being diminished by a partner whose wealth will take priority over everything else. Throughout the novel, Elle struggles with the scars of her father’s manipulation and grapples with the weight of her mother’s legacy of resilience and independence. Her character arc and her internal conflict lie in reconciling her independence with her emotional needs, which she initially views as mutually exclusive.
Elle’s is a dynamic character who transforms from someone who hides her identity to someone who embraces visibility. She initially cares too much about her perception to risk showing herself to the public eye or to potential social circles. However, by the end, she’s abandoned this isolating practice and become someone who is openly herself without care for how she’s received by others. Elle’s growth is also marked by increasing emotional openness. By the end, she not only accepts love but also recognizes that strength can coexist with vulnerability. She can be her own independent person while in a committed relationship, even with a wealthy man. Her mother’s posthumous letter urging her to live her best stories becomes her guiding principle in Becoming the Protagonist of Your Story, culminating in her choosing to start anew with Parker—simply because she wants him and he makes her life better than any of her movies. Elle’s journey is not about losing independence but redefining what it means and not allowing its confines to be so narrow that it limits her ability to live her life fully.
Parker Warren
Parker Warren, the male love interest of the novel, is a tech billionaire as the young CEO of Atomic. He initially embodies the worst of Elle’s assumptions: wealthy, entitled, focused more on his money and his company than anything else. However, as the novel unfolds, Parker’s personality reveals itself as more grounded, loyal, and containing a sincere desire for genuine connection. Unlike Elle, Parker is emotionally available from the start; what he lacks is an understanding of how his wealth affects those around him. The newness of his extreme wealth, which has magnified rapidly in only a few years, leads to Parker making impulsive purchases for Elle’s benefit. Although he means well, these gestures come off as though he’s trying to buy her affection, pushing her further away.
Parker undergoes a character arc that mirrors Elle’s in inverse. He evolves from someone who uses money to show his love to learning that often simpler acts, even free ones, are more meaningful, especially where Elle is concerned. His major turning point arrives when he acknowledges that “he’s not used to having much time, so [he uses] money to make up for it” (151). Money is an easy way to show he cares, but not the most meaningful. Elle’s rejection of the Gramercy house gift forces him to finally understand the full magnitude of this; not all gestures can be monetary. His emotional maturity allows him to apologize sincerely and give Elle the space to reclaim her autonomy.
Parker’s purpose in the novel is to act as both a foil and a catalyst for Elle. His background of emotional neglect parallels hers, but while Elle uses emotional withdrawal as armor, Parker tries to compensate with grand acts to show exactly how deeply he cares. The theme of Money as a Tool of Control also manifests through Parker’s transformation, as he realizes genuine love cannot be bought, only nurtured. In the end, Parker becomes a partner, not a provider, which helps temper some of Elle’s fear about money and control.
Penelope
Penelope is Elle’s best friend, former college roommate, and current roommate in LA. She is introduced as having great taste in men, which Elle envies. The fact that Penelope spends the entirety of the novel encouraging Elle to pursue Parker, even after the third-act breakup, subtly implies that the couple is meant to be, as Penelope’s confirmed to be a good judge of men.
Penelope is a static character whose personality remains consistent throughout the novel. Though Penelope doesn’t undergo a personal arc, her presence is vital. She remains a steady emotional compass for Elle and frequently offers hard truths when Elle veers too far into isolation or becomes caught up in her false beliefs. Penelope navigates the world with a blend of boldness and levity that contrasts Elle’s seriousness and reservedness. Her function in the narrative is to challenge Elle’s fixed worldview and offer a model of healthy emotional openness. Penelope serves to push Elle out of her comfort zone and greatly impacts the theme of Becoming the Protagonist of Your Story and Writing Over the Past. Penelope encourages Elle to be the protagonist of her own life and live it like it’s her best movie.
She is the first to suggest that Parker might be Elle’s muse, and she consistently encourages Elle to let down her walls and engage more meaningfully with life. Additionally, she encourages Elle to make new memories in the city that will overwrite the negative ones that she clings to as an excuse to remain isolated both physically and emotionally. Penelope is often the first to point out when Elle’s rigid ideas about love, men, or money are flawed or self-limiting. Her conversations with Elle provide valuable insight, allowing the narrative to reflect on itself. In the end, Penelope is Elle’s emotional anchor. She doesn’t change because she doesn’t need to—her constancy is what enables Elle to grow.
Cali
Cali, Elle’s younger sister, is also a static character, but her role is more complex and emotionally fraught because it’s connected to the complicated feelings Elle has toward each of her parents—the idolization of her mother and the vilification of her father. Throughout the novel, Cali is portrayed as someone who has willingly allowed herself to be controlled by wealth—particularly that of their father. From Elle’s early perspective, Cali is depicted as materialistic, naively carefree, and often emotionally aloof. This creates friction with Elle, who views Cali’s lifestyle as a betrayal of their mother’s values.
Elle views Cali’s happiness as escapism and avoidance rather than genuine. Rather than engage with difficult truths or grief, Elle believes Cali masks discontent with lavish travel, emotional disconnect, and thoughtless compliance with their father’s wishes in exchange for endless access to his wealth. Unlike Elle, Cali did not inherit their mother’s distrust of money or obsession with self-sufficiency. She openly embraces the comfort that money affords her, which causes Elle to feel guilt and resentment, believing she failed to protect her sister from their controlling father and the corruption of money.
Despite not undergoing a personal transformation, Cali serves a thematic purpose. Her choices force Elle to confront her judgments concerning the theme of Money as a Tool of Control. During their emotional reconciliation in Sicily, Cali reveals that their mother was not infallible and that happiness looks different for everyone. “I knew the warnings, I knew the price, and I made [my choices]. I’m happy. Isn’t that enough?” (229). This moment helps Elle understand that personal agency means allowing others the freedom to define their lives—even if those lives diverge from her ideals. Ultimately, Cali’s character broadens the novel’s emotional terrain, challenging Elle to reconsider what she formerly believed were clear black-and-white moral binaries surrounding money.
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