The multi-named protagonist of I.J. Kay’s Mountains of the Moon, Lulu (I’ve chosen one, like one chooses a slip of paper out of a hat), doesn’t like to catch sight of herself in the mirror. She never acknowledges that she’s reflected when she does, instead referring to “the woman in the mirror,” abstracting herself from herself. Sometimes, the woman in the mirror goes to answer the door instead of Louise (another one of Lulu’s names), which is the most poignant and accurate depiction of depression I’ve seen since Melancholia. In a way, by calling herself the woman in the mirror, Louise is just taking on another name for herself.
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