Stone Mattress

In “Revenant,” readers meet Gavin, Constance’s ex-boyfriend. It has been almost 20 years since Gavin saw Constance. He is now married to a woman, Reynolds, who is much younger than him. Reynolds is also Gavin’s third wife. A celebrated poet and a professor at a local university, Gavin has a pattern of marrying his much younger graduate students.

Gavin dies at the end of “Revenant” after suffering both physical and mental anguish throughout the story. As the story ends, Gavin is on the way to get himself a drink. He falls on the deck and then thinks, “Who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?” Reynolds finds him and says, “Oh my God! Gavvy! I can’t leave you alone for a minute! Now look at what you’ve done! (73).

Before Gavin trips and eventually dies of a stroke caused by his fall, he is introduced to Naveena, a young writer. Gavin and Reynolds believe that Naveena’s thesis is on Gavin’s work. Yet when Naveena tries to pry information out of Gavin, it is revealed that her thesis is on Constance Starr’s Alphinland series.