The Official Book Club Guide: The Rules of Seeing. Kathryn Cope
to retrieve the piece of paper, Tony lunges towards her, and Kate defensively steps back, tripping over a box of wine bottles. She falls and is knocked unconscious when her head hits the kitchen floor. Later, Kate wakes up on the sofa with a throbbing head and realises that Tony has left her alone in the flat.
Meanwhile, Jillian Safinova (known to almost everyone as Nova) meets up with her brother, Alex, who is a doctor. Nova has been blind since birth and Alex excitedly tells her about an innovative new operation that could cure her blindness. Although the operation has an 80 per cent success rate, Nova is ambivalent about the news, questioning whether people who have had the surgery are ‘happy’.
Semi-Circle
February
After consulting eye specialists and psychologists, Nova remains uncertain whether to go ahead with the eye surgery. She travels from her home in London to Oxford to visit her old Modern Languages professor at the university. Professor John Katzner is also blind but was not born so. On learning of the new eye surgery John concludes that, as the experience of losing his sight was so traumatic, he would not want to go through the process of regaining it. He tells Nova that if she ever wants to leave her job as a police interpreter in London, he can find a position for her at the university.
When Tony returns to the marital home, he behaves as if nothing unusual has happened. He denies that he was angry and makes light of Kate’s accident. Kate starts to wonder if she is going mad.
Raindrop
In Oxford, Nova meets up with Rebecca, an ex-girlfriend and theoretical physicist. Nova tells Rebecca she is considering eye surgery and confesses that she is fearful of the outcome. Rebecca encourages Nova to have the operation.
Tony works as a police officer at the MET and Kate is an architect. When she is not at work, Kate spends much of her time renovating a flat that she and Tony plan to move into. Although she has been suffering from headaches since her accident, she has not seen a doctor. Tony pressurises Kate to try for a baby and is annoyed when she suggests they wait until they are settled in their new home. She decides to continue to take her contraceptive pills while pretending to Tony that she is trying to become pregnant.
Circle
Nova goes through with the eye surgery. The operation is a success, allowing her to see, but her brain struggles to interpret the overwhelming volume of visual information.
Meanwhile, Kate narrowly avoids being hit by a falling lintel at work and blacks out.
Cross
May
Kate has been in hospital for two weeks but has no memory of how she got there. Doctors tell her that she has suffered a bleed on the brain, but an operation has successfully relieved the pressure. In the corridor, she sees Nova furiously hammering on a vending machine which has failed to dispense her crisps. Kate helps by strategically buying a chocolate bar which dislodges the crisps on the way down. She makes a hasty exit when a security guard arrives to confront Nova about her mistreatment of hospital property.
Later, Tony arrives just as a doctor begins questioning Kate about how she received a blow to the head. Aware that Tony is watching her intently, Kate takes full responsibility for the accident. She resists the urge to bring up the subject of the square of white paper with Tony.
Heart
June
Nova returns home from hospital and sees her own flat for the first time. Despite intensive rehabilitation, she is still struggling to process what she sees. Kate also returns home but no longer feels comfortable in the flat.
Hexagon
Nova returns to her job as an interpreter for the first time as a sighted person. During one police interview, a suspect accuses her of looking at him in a strange manner. When Nova tells the suspect that she used to be blind, he claims that some Muslims believe blindness to be a malady of the heart and not the eyes. Distressed, Nova leaves the interview before it finishes. On the way home, she has a panic attack and blacks out.
Meanwhile, Kate and her friend, Vi, go to see an action movie. Kate finds the violent images unbearable.
Lightning Bolt
By chance, Kate and Nova end up sitting next to each other in the neurologist’s waiting room. Outside the hospital, they meet again, and Nova asks Kate if she wants to go for a drink.
Triangle
At the pub, Kate and Nova discuss their reasons for consulting a neurologist. Nova explains that, since her operation, she is having difficulty interpreting what she sees. Meanwhile, Kate admits to Nova that she has been suffering from anxiety since her accident. Nova flirts with Kate and, when they part, Kate writes Nova’s mobile phone number on a beer mat, promising to call. When she gets home, however, Kate suddenly feels anxious and throws the beer mat away.
Spiral
November
Nova continues to struggle with her rehabilitation, feeling that her sight is a curse rather than a blessing.
Kate’s anxiety also continues and fresh bruises on her arm bear testament to a recent incident where Tony lost his temper and shoved her. As her anxiety increases, Kate finds it a challenge to leave the flat. She forces herself to go out, intending to buy ingredients for dinner but has a panic attack before she reaches the shops and returns home.
That evening, Tony is displeased when Kate explains that an anxiety attack prevented her from buying groceries. They order a takeaway, but Kate becomes nauseous and goes to the bathroom to vomit. She then thinks she hears her husband leave the flat. Trying to open the bathroom door, Kate realises that Tony must have wedged something against the other side. Trapped, she eventually falls asleep on the cold bathroom tiles.
When Kate wakes up, the bathroom door opens freely, and Tony later claims it must have jammed. She cleans up the kitchen and, behind the bin, comes across the beer mat with Nova’s number written on it. Kate texts her and Nova instantly replies, suggesting that they visit London Zoo together.
Crescent
December
Kate and Nova meet at the zoo. Although Kate initially has doubts at the wisdom of seeing Nova again, she finds she enjoys introducing her new friend to the sight of a whole range of animals. When they see a tiger pacing up and down in its enclosure, however, Kate has a panic attack and faints.
Star
Kate is briefly readmitted to hospital and wakes up with Nova by her side. Newly aware that Kate is married, Nova reveals that Tony has been informed of her admission to hospital. Kate is dismayed by this news.
A week later, Kate invites Nova over for dinner. The evening starts off well but, partway through the meal, Tony grows quiet and the atmosphere becomes awkward. As she leaves, Nova tells Kate she is going to Venice for a month with a friend. Kate realises that she is jealous of Nova’s travelling companion.
Nova goes to Oxford, ready to travel to Venice with Rebecca the following day. In the physics department where she works, Rebecca shows Nova a practical example of nuclear fission, referred to by scientists as ‘star in a jar’. This is prompted by Nova’s complaint that she is still unable to see stars clearly. Nova is moved at this uncharacteristically thoughtful gesture from her ex-girlfriend.
Kate unwraps the Christmas present that Nova left behind for her and is surprised to discover a paint by numbers kit. Touched by the gift, Kate wonders how Nova could have guessed that she has had the urge to paint but has been unable to decide on a subject.
PART TWO – BODIES
Rabbit
January
After completing