Emma Neuman // MAYA AND GUGL
No matter how hopelessly miserable her life seemed,
one unexpected encounter while singing on the street
transformed it into miraculous bliss,
forever changing her world.
The final installment, Maya and Gugl, brings the story to a compelling conclusion, where the characters begin questioning their autonomy within the narrative.
In the third book, Maya and Gugl, we meet Gugl, a man from Hong Kong, who, under unusual circumstances, encounters Maya, a fourteen-year-old Ukrainian girl, singing on the streets of Stockholm to pay off her father's gambling debts. Maya's tragic past involves her father, who, after losing his fortune to gambling, killed her mother and unborn brother, attempted to kill Maya, and ultimately took his own life. After these events, the group forces Maya to beg throughout European cities and sing, using her exceptional soprano talent. Gugl helps Maya escape the clutches of this gang, and over time, they form a close bond, as they are both without families. Gugl adopts Maya as his daughter, and they embark on extraordinary journeys together. During a turbulent flight, during a severe storm that causes panic among the passengers, Maya meets Emma. She realizes that Emma is a writer and that she and Gugl are characters in her narrative.
Upon arrival in New York, the situation becomes more complicated as they encounter other characters from Emma's fiction: She and LoL, protagonists of "Surprise Mode" and "Emma in the Book." Events unfold rapidly. Gugl recognizes LoL, the owner of a painting that has disappeared at auction. Together, they set out in search of her. A painting by a Chinese artist, the same one that LoL had previously purchased at auction, disappears at Art Dubai. With their initiative, a chain of criminal activity is uncovered. The story ends with LoL returning the painting after over a year, and the artwork lost in Dubai is found in New York.
The final scene takes place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where Maya, after studying at the Juilliard School, takes on the role of Norma in the opera of the same name. At one point, Emma catches the eye of a man in the gallery and realizes that he is ZKMDI, the author of Surprise Mode. It remains unclear whether Emma realizes that she, too, is a character in his imaginary novels.