Charisse Bonavant

Charisse Bonavant is Gomez’s partner and one of the first people in Clare’s circle to welcome Henry socially. In scenes marked by domestic bustle and Gomez’s irreverence, she emerges as both a generous host and a clear-eyed observer of her friends.

First Meeting

Charisse is in the kitchen when Gomez introduces Henry as a new toy, to be called Library Boy. She tells Gomez to stop teasing and introduces herself directly, asking Henry to ignore him. Her humor is affectionate but pointed: she says she keeps Gomez around to lift heavy objects, and Gomez adds that she keeps him for sex. Charisse’s easy response establishes a familiar intimacy between them rather than embarrassment at his public joking.

Henry describes her as short and round, with long black hair and a kind face that makes him want to confide in her. His impression is immediate and personal: among the people he meets through Clare, Charisse seems approachable before he knows much about her. When Gomez offers Henry a beer, Charisse is part of the informal welcome that draws him into the household.

Dinner and Conversation

The kitchen is in disarray, with spilled ingredients and the aftermath of Clare’s attempted cooking. Charisse looks relieved when the food is salvaged. Clare, who has been hanging back fearfully, asks Henry whether he is angry; he kisses her, rolls up his sleeves, and takes charge of dinner. Charisse joins the improvised effort, and, after an hour and forty-three minutes, the group sits down to chicken risotto stew with pureed squash, with butter in everything and everyone drunk.

During dinner, Charisse tells stories about her work at Lusus Naturae, a small software company trying to make computers understand spoken language, and about her computer-based art. The conversation also gives her a practical role in keeping the evening sociable: while Gomez jokes, smokes, and drinks beer in the kitchen, she catches him making faces at Clare and silently stops him with a finger drawn across her throat. Her intervention is a small but telling counterweight to his mischief.

Charisse is curious about Henry’s work at the Newberry Library and asks whether it really holds a book made of human skin. The question opens a conversation about the unusual visitors and materials associated with the library, while placing her alongside Gomez and Clare as a listener to Henry’s stories about his workplace.

Friendship and Advice

Charisse’s closeness to Gomez includes both affection and the ability to check him. When she comes in coughing and finds him talking with Clare about Henry, she guesses that he has been praising Henry and speaks with a warning edge. Gomez says he has instead urged Clare to run in the opposite direction. Charisse tells Clare not to listen to him, on the grounds that he has terrible taste in men.

The exchange makes Charisse an active participant in the conversation about Clare’s relationship, not merely its amused audience. Her warning is teasing, but it also undercuts Gomez’s dramatic advice: she knows his judgments well enough to challenge them, and her confidence gives Clare another perspective within the group. In the scenes provided, Charisse’s humor repeatedly serves a social purpose—welcoming Henry, steadying the dinner, and tempering Gomez’s provocations.