Two Nights in Lisbon

Ariel’s husband of only a few months, John, works a lucrative but unremarkable corporate job when he disappears on a business trip in Lisbon. John is often defined by his absence. An army career and time in the CIA, as well as a close if mysterious relationship with his sister, are topics Ariel allows others to uncover rather than revealing them herself.

John tells Ariel he loves her, but then the two go their separate ways, which adds to the sense that he is something of a cipher. The brief sections from John’s perspective are logistical and calculating as they concern his attempts to evade detection at the airport in Spain—he watches Ariel be taken into custody and then goes to his getaway car without hesitation. Only later does the reader see another woman, implied to be his sister, thank him for his efforts and support. The reader sees his loyalty is divided; the kidnapping ploy unexpectedly creates real feelings for Ariel. The reader comes to see John as a person who understands Ariel, admiring the parts of her she conceals from others.

Only at the novel’s conclusion does it become clear that Ariel and John married to destroy Charlie Wolfe’s political career and get substantial monetary compensation for his sister’s suffering. John welcomes Ariel’s desire to renew their relationship but waits for her clear consent, underlining that he treats her with dignity. 

A wealthy and prominent businessman, Charlie Wolfe was part of Ariel’s social circle during her life as Laurel Turner. Wolfe’s arrogance is accompanied by deep misogyny and violence against women, as he rapes Ariel during a summer party, insisting that she has always been interested in him and ignoring her refusals. Money and power are Wolfe’s primary motives: both preserving the status he has and increasing and demonstrating it by any available means. When Ariel meets with him to discuss a monetary settlement, Wolfe orders a specific wine, and Ariel suspects it is not available to other customers, as “Charlie didn’t give a damn about any Barolo. He just wanted to demand something expensive, something exclusive, something that proved how important he was” (338). Wolfe demands an NDA in exchange for $3 million, and Ariel senses he resents the negotiation because he would prefer “not to admit that he’d been dominated” (346). Ariel notices during their interaction his mannerisms remind her of her husband, Bucky Turner, suggesting Wolfe is less a unique character and more a representation of dark trends in American culture.

Wolfe is never seen in person in the present-day sections of the narrative, except through references to news stories. Other characters unearth the link between Wolfe and Ariel while he is a disembodied voice in phone calls. Wolfe functions as a kind of specter, the hidden motive for Ariel and John’s partnership and endeavor. Wolfe’s exposure ends his political career, but it is implied that others like him and the wider culture that enables him will survive far into the future.

Antonio Moniz and Carolina Santos are the Lisbon police officers Ariel approaches about John’s disappearance. They dismiss her concerns since she comes to them mere hours after she last sees him. Santos, the more jaded of the two, suspects ordinary marital deception but nevertheless has a colleague track Ariel’s movement. Ariel realizes that both investigators are thorough, as they express curiosity about John’s sister, which leads her to realize they are “treating her not completely like the victim of a crime” (163). The team discovers that Ariel was not accompanying John at the request of his business partners, and they follow Ariel when she leaves the hotel to pay John’s ransom. Ariel realizes that Moniz may pretend to be confused but is in fact sharply observant—she compares him to the fictional detective Columbo. In some ways, both detectives underestimate Ariel in the way others do, insisting that John rather than she is the key to the case.

Moniz and Santos are equally suspicious when John, returned from his kidnapping, bristles at the suggestion he lied to Ariel about his motives for the trip. They ask if it is possible his sister is the person who injured him. Santos persuades Moniz to let Ariel go once they reach Spain since admitting she and John eluded the Portuguese police could harm both of their careers.

Moniz, like Detective Columbo, eventually untangles the plot: His role was to facilitate the kidnapping investigation, making it a point of interest for journalists and the CIA. Moniz and Santos’s investigation suggests that traditional policing can do little to address the root causes of corruption and sexual violence. 

A journalist for an unnamed newspaper, Wagstaff is based in Lisbon and notices Ariel when she visits the US embassy for help finding John. He becomes curious, especially when he reads Ariel’s NDA, which he infers may conceal sexual violence. He also notices that Ariel’s divorce occurred early in her pregnancy. His speculations encourage the reader to consider that John’s kidnapping is not about him but about Ariel’.

Wagstaff becomes obsessed with publishing the full story, knowing “it’s increasingly possible he’s going to win a Pulitzer” (354). Though Ariel cannot confirm any of the aspects of Wagstaff’s final article, she is quietly triumphant that he correctly pieced together the narrative. It is also implied that the heavy media attention on Ariel saves her life. While Wagstaff’s interest appears to be in the drama and political stakes of potential scandal, he helps further Ariel’s goal of a reckoning for Wolfe. The novel thus argues that the journalists’ drive to expose secrets may be useful to those with higher moral goals.