The character of Justine – who is portrayed by Durrell as alluring, seductive, mournful, and prone to dark, cryptic pronouncements – has been described by critics as the centrifugal force of the novel. The narrator and Justine embark on a secretive, torrid love affair. As the adulterous lovers attempt to conceal their growing passions from Justine's husband Nessim, who is also a friend of the narrator, the resulting love triangle grows increasingly desperate and dangerous, with the narrator fearing at the book's climax that Nessim is trying to arrange to have him killed.