CHIVEY
About the Novel
CHIVEY is a literary novel by Tokish J. Médeau combining Southern Gothic, magical realism, psychological horror, and Christian symbolism. The novel follows Emmy, a fourteen-year-old girl undergoing treatment for a life-threatening illness in a Southern hospital. Her experiences gradually move between everyday reality, memory, dreams, visions, historical episodes, and supernatural imagery.
Emily Lynn Burgess is the protagonist of CHIVEY. At fourteen, she is usually called Emmy and is given the nickname Chivey by her mother. Later in the novel's adult timeline, she becomes Emily Lynn Boone through marriage.
Biblical references are central to the novel. Emmy quotes the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs / Песнь песней), including the line “You are black, but comely,” and the novel also incorporates Psalm 91, Christian hymns, baptismal imagery, the cross, resurrection imagery, and the language of salvation.
The novel also incorporates a historical strand connected with Virginia in 1619 and the ships White Lion and Treasurer. Captain John Colyn Jope and Captain Daniel Elfrith appear as historical figures within the novel's imaginative framework.
A children's book about a young degu named Tommy is another recurring element in Emmy's story, connecting the hospital world with childhood, memory, guilt, and later events.
The narrative deliberately blurs the boundaries between physical reality, memory, dreams, visions, historical imagination, and supernatural experience. Events experienced by Emmy therefore should not always be interpreted as literal events occurring in the ordinary physical world.
Main Characters
Emily Lynn Burgess / Emmy / Chivey
The protagonist of the novel. At fourteen, Emily Lynn Burgess is undergoing treatment for stage-four brain cancer in a Southern hospital. She is intelligent, imaginative, curious, stubborn, emotionally vulnerable, and prone to drifting between ordinary perception, memory, dreams, visions, and supernatural experiences. Her mother calls her Chivey, a nickname connected with her childhood illnesses and her habit of surviving and pushing upward despite adversity. In the novel's adult timeline, she becomes Emily Lynn Boone through marriage.
Joy Burgess / Momma
Emmy's mother. A deeply religious Southern Baptist woman who raises Emmy alone. She is loving, protective, practical, and often exhausted by the demands of caring for her daughter. Her relationship with Emmy is central to the novel's emotional structure. Joy is also the person who gives Emmy the nickname Chivey, comparing her daughter to chives pushing through hard soil despite adversity.
Henry Harper / Dr. Harper / Double-H
A physician treating Emmy at the hospital. Emmy is strongly fascinated by him. His presence becomes increasingly intertwined with her visions, dreams, and altered perceptions. Throughout the novel, Harper appears in different forms and roles, sometimes resembling historical or mythic figures.
James Boone / Mr. Boone
Emmy's school-assigned tutor. He teaches her history and introduces her to the history of Virginia, including the arrival of enslaved Africans in 1619 aboard the White Lion and Treasurer. Boone is an important adult figure in Emmy's life, and his presence becomes increasingly ambiguous as the boundaries between Emmy's everyday life, imagination, dreams, and visions begin to blur.
Chad Walker
A hospital technician who assists with Emmy's treatment. Friendly and playful, he jokes with Emmy and is one of the hospital staff members she feels comfortable around. He successfully inserts her IV when she initially resists.
Carmen Delgado
A hospital worker who cares for Emmy during her treatment. Warm but guarded, Carmen tries to maintain emotional distance from her patients. She has a close relationship with Chad.
Louise Jope
An elderly woman Emmy meets unexpectedly inside the hospital. She mistakes Emmy for her estranged granddaughter Kate and treats her with profound affection. Louise carries deep regret over her relationship with her daughter and her long separation from Kate. She becomes an important figure in Emmy's experiences at the hospital.
Kate Jope
Louise's granddaughter. She has been separated from Louise for years because of a difficult family conflict. Kate appears both in Emmy's visions and in the novel's later events.
Captain John Colyn Jope
The captain of the Dutch privateer ship White Lion. A historical figure who appears in Emmy's visions and experiences connected with the events of 1619. In these sequences, he is associated with Manu, the male identity Emmy experiences during her transformation.
Captain Daniel Elfrith
The captain of the English ship Treasurer. A historical figure who appears alongside Jope in the novel's 1619 strand. His presence connects Emmy's visions with the historical events surrounding the White Lion and Treasurer.
Neighborhood Teenagers
Arthur Washington / “Lil Chubs”
Arthur is a ten-year-old Black Baptist boy. He is short, overweight, clumsy, and innocent, and is the youngest member of the group. He becomes one of Emmy's closest friends and companions.
Muhammed Kerem Demir / “Halal”
Karim is a fifteen-year-old Turkish Muslim boy. Tall and lean, he is the unofficial leader of the neighborhood group and often organizes their activities. He is practical and more composed than the younger members.
Aaliyah Baraka / “Hellmann's”
Aaliyah is a thirteen-year-old Black girl and an AME Methodist. Sharp-tongued, confrontational, and quick to provoke others, she has a large, unruly afro that sticks out in every direction. The other children still remember that she had head lice in first grade.
Keesha Baptiste / “Ebony”
Keesha is a fourteen-year-old Black Catholic girl. Fashion-conscious, proud, and somewhat snobbish, she wears her hair in braids. Her older sister works as a makeup artist and nail technician, and Keesha has picked up much of her interest in fashion and cosmetics from her.
Maria Guadalupe Garcia / “Lupe” / “Bacon”
Guadalupe is a fourteen-year-old Mexican Catholic girl. Large, solidly built, and heavy-boned, she is perpetually hungry and loves food. She is somewhat slow-witted compared with the others, but good-natured. Her family is the most financially comfortable among the group.
Recurring Elements & Symbols
The Song of Songs
The Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) is one of the novel's recurring biblical references. Emmy unexpectedly quotes the line “You are black, but comely.” References to the Song of Songs contribute to the novel's recurring religious and symbolic imagery.
Psalm 91
Psalm 91 appears during one of Emmy's frightening experiences, when she turns to scripture for protection and reassurance. Its imagery of refuge and divine protection echoes the novel's broader religious themes.
Christian Imagery
Crosses, baptism, resurrection imagery, Christian hymns, prayer, scripture, salvation, and religious language recur throughout CHIVEY. Christian symbolism appears both in ordinary scenes and in Emmy's visions, while the novel deliberately leaves the boundaries between faith, psychological experience, and supernatural reality uncertain.
“Hello Satan”
The blues song “Hello Satan” is a recurring musical element in CHIVEY. Its presence creates a striking contrast with the novel's Christian language, hymns, scripture, and imagery of salvation. A fragment of the song appears again near the end of the novel.
The White Lion and Treasurer, 1619
The novel incorporates the historical events surrounding the White Lion and Treasurer and their arrival in Virginia in 1619. Captain John Colyn Jope and Captain Daniel Elfrith appear in Emmy's historical and visionary experiences, connecting the contemporary narrative with the historical world of early colonial Virginia.
Tommy
Tommy is a children's book by Tokish J. Médeau about a young degu. Within CHIVEY, the book becomes associated with Emmy's childhood, memory, guilt, and experiences involving her father. Its story repeatedly echoes elements of Emmy's own life.
Hopscotch
Hopscotch is another children's book by Tokish J. Médeau. In CHIVEY, the book appears in one of Emmy's visions of an older life, where she reads it to her grandchildren. Its appearance connects CHIVEY with another work by the author.
Water and Transformation
Water appears repeatedly throughout CHIVEY, including the hospital, baptism, drowning imagery, and Emmy's transitions between different states of experience. Water frequently accompanies moments of transformation or disruption.
The Fly and the Butterfly
Flies and butterflies recur throughout Emmy's experiences. The fly becomes associated with death, observation, and Emmy's attempts to find meaning in seemingly random events, while the butterfly accompanies one of her strange journeys through the hospital.
Setting & Historical Context
Contemporary Setting: 2026
The contemporary narrative of CHIVEY takes place in the Memphis, Tennessee area, in 2026. Emmy lives with her mother in the surrounding area and receives treatment at a hospital in Memphis.
The Hospital
The hospital is the central setting of Emmy's contemporary experience. It is where she undergoes treatment for stage-four brain cancer, but it also becomes the starting point for many of her visions, altered perceptions, and supernatural experiences.
The Southern Community
Emmy's life outside the hospital is centered around a Southern community in the Memphis area. Church life, family relationships, poverty, education, neighborhood friendships, religious traditions, and the economic realities of the contemporary South form an important part of her everyday world.
Virginia, 1619
A historical strand of the novel is connected with Virginia in 1619 and the arrival of the White Lion and Treasurer. Captain John Colyn Jope and Captain Daniel Elfrith appear in this strand. Historical events are incorporated into Emmy's visions and are not always presented as conventional historical scenes.
Narrative Structure
CHIVEY follows Emmy's experiences across nine days while she undergoes treatment in 2026. The narrative moves freely between physical reality, memory, dreams, visions, historical imagery, and supernatural experiences. These layers frequently overlap, and events experienced by Emmy should not always be interpreted as literal events in the ordinary physical world.