Gail Right Character Analysis

Gail Right is the manager of the wine bar in Yorkshire where the narrator works after leaving London and Louise. She is a heavyset, unattractive older woman with romantic feelings for the narrator. One night, after a shift together at the wine bar, Gail goes home with the narrator, and they spend the night touching each other, though they don’t have sex. The next morning, the narrator feels repulsed by Gail’s presence and eventually tells her about Louise. At first, Gail attempts to encourage the narrator to forget about Louise and give her a chance. A few months later, however, Gail drunkenly confronts the narrator and tells them they were wrong to leave Louise, and they should go back to London to try to find her again. When the narrator returns to Yorkshire unsuccessful, Gail is waiting for them and offers comfort. The narrator asks Gail if they invented Louise, and Gail says no but that they tried to. In this way, Gail’s presence and perspective shed new light on the narrator’s relationship with Louise, including how the narrator may have fabricated or embellished upon certain aspects of the relationship.