Readers’ Guide

A ‘Map’ of Hadriana

The organization of Hadriana In All My Dreams is, like much else in the novel, playful and complex. The book is organized into three “Movements,” made up of a total of six consecutively numbered chapters. The First Movement has four chapters, broken up into what we have called “Sections,” while the Second and Third Movements are each made up of a single chapter, also broken up into sections. Most sections are untitled, but three of those in Chapter 5 and the final section of Chapter 6 have titles, which are listed below. 

First Movement

  • Chapter 1: “Balthazar and the Seven Loins of Madame Villaret-Joyeuse”
  • Sections 1-4
  • Chapter 2: The Star that Shined but Once
  • Sections 1-7 
  • Chapter 3: Hadriana in the Lap of the Gods
  • Sections 1-9 
  • Chapter 4: Requiem for a Creole Fairy
  • Sections 1-8

Second Movement

  • Chapter 5: Hadriana-Ache
  • Section 1
  • Section 2: Letter from Jacmel
  • Section 3
  • Section 4: Imaginary Interview in the Luxembourg Gardens
  • Section 5: Prolegomena to a Dead-End Essay
  • Section 6

Third Movement

  • Chapter 6: Hadriana’s Tale
  • Sections 1-14
  • Section 15: For the Record

Main Characters

Patrick Altamont: narrator & protagonist

Hadriana Siloé: the crossroads of the story

Supporting Cast

Hector Danoze: Hadriana’s husband-to-be

Mam Diani: Patrick’s aunt

Balthazar Grandchiré: marauding butterfly-man

Father Naélo: The Priest

Maître Homaire: The Jurist

Uncle Féfé: Patrick’s uncle and mentor

Madame Brévica Losange: wise Vodou initiate

Philisbourg twins, Lolita & Klariklé: Hadriana’s girlfriends

The Kraft Sisters, Mélissa & Raïssa: Hadriana’s girlfriends

André Siloé: Hadriana’s father

Scylla Syllabaire: barber & weaver of fantastical tales

Germaine Muzac Villaret-Joyeuse: Balthazar Grandchiré’s love-match

Lil’ Jerôme Villaret-Joyeuse: Germaine’s son & final chauffeur

Don Rosalvo Rosanfer: powerful black magic sorcerer