The Keep is, like Melmoth, a book within a book; the scenes in the castle are a part of story being told by Ray to his prison writing class. These strands are then connected in a final section told from the perspective of Holly, Ray’s prison writing instructor, who visits the castle in which much of the novel is set. Egan describes the structure of The Keep as a romance: “The story of Ray and Holly, the love affair there, is a love of language. They each give each other the gift of writing. That’s a gift that I somehow got, and that I’m grateful for. It’s a very dewy-eyed book for me” (Yabroff ).