Orfe

Orfe is an odd mixture of fantasy and reality. The main character, a rock musician and latter-day Orpheus, must rescue her lover, Yuri, from returning to the drug-dependence he has fought to overcome. The story is told by a self-effacing narrator, Enny, whose uncritical admiration for Orfe is partly explained by a contrived accident in the last-but-one chapter. Although the 'druggies' and the threat they pose remain shadowy, as befits the 'Underworld' theme, Cynthia Voigt's main characters are always individuals; Orfe's and Yuri's love story is set against a background very different from those she usually chooses.