Content Warning: This section includes discussion of gender discrimination, substance use, addiction, illness, death, and emotional abuse.

The novel’s protagonist and one of its two first-person narrators, Inez Olivera was born into a wealthy Argentine family and, unlike many women of her time, is well-educated and passionate about history. Whether deciphering ancient texts, analyzing clues in her mother’s journal, or debating historical theories with Whit, her mind is always at work. Inez is fiercely independent, refusing to be sidelined by the men in her life. She insists on taking an active role in tracking down her mother and finding the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra.

Inez’s journey is one of self-determination. Throughout the novel, she grapples with and questions the expectations that her parents and society placed on her—and even those she placed on herself. As a woman in the early 20th century, she’s expected to conform to the mold of an obedient woman content with a traditional life, which awaits her back in Argentina if she follows Ricardo’s orders and returns home. However, Inez defies these expectations at every turn, even at the cost of the well-being of herself and others. Her grief over her cousin Elvira’s death in What the River Knows forms one major through-line of her