The decision was not intentional. When I was initially thinking about the novel, I intended to have multiple perspectives, but at some point, due to a combination of reading Adele Wiseman’s Old Woman at Play (which is about her mother’s profilic doll making and creativity), and doing many crafts with my four children, a sock puppet wandered into my head. I became fascinated with the puppet’s voice, which was silly and sweet and whismically wise. I found myself disinterested in listening to any other character. So I didn’t. I let the puppet tell the story of Minoo—an Iranian immigrant to Canada struggling with shame, sexuality, and being there for herself and the people she loves.

This story begins in 2022, Padua, midwinter. Across the city a debate is raging. It concerns a woman whose name I only recently learned: Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, the first woman in the world to earn a Ph.D. City councillors Margherita Colonnello and Simone Pillitteri have proposed to place a statue of Piscopia in the town square — a notable historical woman to join the effigies of notable historical men. This suggestion has sparked outrage across the country.