The New York Trilogy

The narrator reflects on Fanshawe. As a boy, he loved Fanshawe and looked up to him, copying his actions. The narrator feels that Fanshawe was mysterious and “inaccessible,” but more himself than anybody.

The narrator remembers Fanshawe’s “act of justice” when he gave the present he’d bought for a friend’s birthday to a boy who could not buy one (213). The narrator recalls their love for each other as children and thinks that writing was reasonable for Fanshawe because of his “inwardness.” Fanshawe wrote stories from a young age but remained social. However, on reaching adolescence, Fanshawe retreated and started writing seriously. Life in the New York suburbs could not satisfy him. During high school, his father died of cancer and his relationship with his mother became strained. Fanshawe took responsibility for his sister, Ellen, who was “troubled.”

One event remains vivid in the narrator’s memory. The two friends went on a drive and visited a cemetery, where Fanshawe spotted a newly dug grave. Fanshawe lowered himself into the hole and lay down, wanting to see how it felt. The narrator understands that it was “Fanshawe’s way of imagining his father’s death” (222). Returning home, they learned that Fanshawe’s father died during their drive.

Days pass before the narrator reads Fanshawe’s manuscripts. He is afraid he might be disappointed by Fanshawe’s work. Simultaneously, he is afraid it might be too good. He also realizes he wants to see Sophie again. He organizes Fanshawe’s material, discovering three novels, 100 poems, five plays, and 11 notebooks. He finds no clues about Fanshawe’s personal life.

The narrator has dinner with Sophie and they flirt. He explains the situation to her and she is not surprised. She wants to leave the past behind and trusts the narrator to make the right decisions. They don’t speak about Fanshawe again.

The narrator approaches Stuart Green, an editor, and gives him the manuscript of Fanshawe’s novel, titled Neverland. The editor is interested in the book and asks to see Fanshawe’s other writings. The novel gets accepted for publication, and the narrator writes an article on Fanshawe. The publication of Fanshawe’s writings is a “cause” that makes him feel “important.”

The narrator keeps seeing Sophie. As time passes they grow closer. Sophie makes him feel “human” and offers him a sense of belonging. On the narrator’s 30th birthday they sleep together.

The narrator begins his relationship with Sophie. He feels indebted to Fanshawe for bringing her into his life. Fanshawe’s novel is published to acclaim and the narrator feels the situation is unreal. The narrator notes that this is the beginning of the story and writing about it is a means of “escape.”

Stuart Green informs the narrator that rumors are circulating about Fanshawe. According to the rumors, the narrator is the original writer of the books and Fanshawe is an invention. The narrator considers publishing one of Fanshawe’s works under his own name, intrigued by the idea of a “secret identity.”

One day, the narrator receives a letter from Fanshawe. Fanshawe thanks him for all he has done and asks him to consider him dead and marry Sophie. He states that seven years after his disappearance he will be dead. He has abandoned writing, “an illness that plagued him” (240), and asks the narrator not to look for him, threatening to kill him if he does. The fact that Fanshawe is still alive troubles the narrator. He realizes that the man left voluntarily and feels he should have known from the start.

He decides to hide the truth from Sophie and has a growing feeling of “panic and fear” (241). Days later, he proposes to her and adopts Ben. They marry in New York and visit Sophie’s parents in Minnesota. On their return, Ben calls the narrator his dad.

The narrator immerses himself in daily life with Sophie and Ben. The earnings from Fanshawe’s books offer him financial stability, and he considers quitting his job to start writing a book. He wants to write a detective novel, but he encounters writer’s block and cannot continue.

Rumors that Fanshawe is a fictional figure persist and Stuart Green asks the narrator to write a biography of Fanshawe. The narrator sees this as an opportunity to write a good book. He discusses the matter with Sophie and she agrees.

The narrator knows that he cannot write the truth and remains ambivalent. Fanshawe’s biography will contain facts but the book will remain “a work of fiction” (248). The narrator explains that facts and details are insufficient, for people ask for stories for an attempt to make sense of reality. In the end, the self remains inaccessible. Having no clues about Fanshawe’s life, the narrator starts research. He wanders around New York asking people for information but people decline to speak to him. He recalls his old profession as a census-taker. When people would not respond to his questionnaire, the supervisor advised him to use his imagination. He filled the questionnaires with fictionalized facts. He finally states that “lives make no sense” (255). Reading Fanshawe’s notebooks, the narrator realizes that Fanshawe’s retelling of stories was a means to understand himself.

The narrator, Sophie, and Ben visit Fanshawe’s mother in New Jersey. The visit is tense and Mrs. Fanshawe is subtly hostile to Sophie. The narrator recalls his fascination with her as a child. She agrees to help him with Fanshawe’s biography. The two go to Fanshawe’s old room and the narrator finds some letters addressed to his sister, Ellen. They agree to photocopy them another time.

Days later, Mrs. Fanshawe calls the narrator to say she is going away for a month. She invites him to come copy the letters before she leaves, and the narrator agrees. She picks him up at the bus station and he notices how beautiful she is. Mrs. Fanshawe says Sophie is lucky she found him. The narrator copies the letters and sees that Mrs. Fanshawe has prepared lunch. Mrs. Fanshawe says she is happy to have him.

During lunch, Mrs. Fanshawe recalls her son, describing him as “dead” inside. She feels he hated her. When she starts crying, the narrator comforts her, and they end up having sex. The narrator is motivated by “hatred” and characterizes it an “act of violence” (267). He wishes Fanshawe were dead. He returns home, as Sophie expects him for dinner.

The narrator distances himself from Sophie and longs for “solitude.” They start quarrelling and Sophie thinks Fanshawe’s autobiography is the problem. He knows that undertaking the book is a mistake but cannot admit it to her. He continues working on it but realizes his goal is to find Fanshawe.

Fanshawe’s letters to Ellen help him gather some clues. He discovers that Fanshawe wandered around the country, changing jobs and working on a ship. At one point there Fanshawe defended a Black man from a racist attack. Fanshawe managed to find a place in the world and “be like everyone else” (273). Later, Fanshaw relocated to Paris and continued working on his writing. The letters mention some of Fanshawe’s acquaintances. While in Paris, Fanshawe became known as a writer. He left for the French countryside, where he worked as a caretaker for a friendly family who allowed him to stay in their house. There, Fanshawe sequestered himself and began writing with discipline. The narrator comments that he matured as a writer.

The narrator meets several of Fanshawe’s old friends and feels like a detective searching for clues, but the facts do not help him. He considers hiring Quinn, the private detective Sophie hired, but cannot locate him. Finally, the narrator decides to go to Paris. Sophie grows tense and wants to discard Fanshawe’s things. She tells the narrator that she sees him losing himself in Fanshawe’s biography and warns him that he is going to vanish.

The narrator arrives in Paris and finds it different from New York, characterizing it “an old-world city” (287). He speaks to people who knew Fanshawe but still finds no clues. He starts feeling disconnected from reality. He contacts the family in the country and locates the house where Fanshawe stayed. He talks to the people in the area but only one person knows him. The narrator decides to spend a few days in the house, hoping to rest and free his mind. However, he senses Fanshawe’s presence and realizes he cannot escape him. He returns to Paris for a month, drinking at bars and trying to forget Fanshawe. Ultimately, he reveals himself as the writer of City of Glass and Ghosts and hints at the end of the story.

One night, he sees a man at a bar and tries to convince himself it is Fanshawe. He approaches the man, who furiously insists his name is Peter Stillman. When he leaves, the narrator runs after him and they end up fighting. Stillman leaves him unconscious on the street. He remains in his hotel for three days, feeling “strange to be alive” (299). He finally calls Sophie to tell her he’s returning to New York.

Back in New York, the narrator and Sophie welcome a son named Paul. Time passes and they both stop mentioning Fanshawe, renewing their relationship. The narrator feels the truth is unimportant and never reveals the facts to Sophie. Still, he expects something to happen. He parallels Fanshawe to the death of himself.

The narrator receives a letter asking him to a meeting at Columbus Square in Boston. He arrives in Boston and goes to the address mentioned in the letter, finding a desolate four-story house. The door is unlocked and he enters, but the house seems to be empty. He waits for several minutes, then hears someone whispering his name from behind a closed door. The narrator asks if it is Fanshawe and the man behind the door tells him not to say that name. The narrator, certain it is Fanshawe, asks him to open the door, then starts pushing on the door. The man threatens to shoot him. The man says that today is his last day.

Fanshawe says that Quinn, the detective, was about to find him and he had to move around constantly. He tells the narrator that his book was bad and he was angry when it was published. Fanshawe reveals that he returned to New York and for weeks he camped outside the narrator and Sophie’s apartment. He says that they crossed paths but the narrator didn’t recognize him. The narrator is incredulous. Fanshawe departed again and traveled around the world working on a ship. When the ship reached Boston, he disembarked, and he has lived there ever since under the name of Henry Dark.

Fanshawe tells the narrator that there is a red notebook under the stairs that he has written for him. He asks him to return home and read it to find everything he needs to know. The story is finished.

The narrator goes to the station and reads the notebook as he waits for the train. He feels a “great lucidity” while reading it but understands little. Ultimately, everything remains “unfinished.” The story ends as he tears each page from the notebook and throws it in the trash.