The novel was inspired by this poem
"Insomnia"
Elizabeth Bishop
The moon shines through the dressing table mirror
Look a million miles away
(Perhaps also looking at myself with pride
But she never, never smiled)
to a place far beyond sleep, or
She is probably a day sleeper.
Abandoned by the universe,
She'll tell the universe to go to hell,
She will find a bay of water,
Or a mirror to live in.
So wrap your worries in a cobweb
Throw deep into the well
Enter that inverted world
There, left is always right,
Shadows are actually entities,
There we stayed awake all night,
There, the kingdom of heaven is as pure and shallow as
The ocean is deep now and you love me.