Tender is the Night Book Notes Summary

Rosemary noticed Nicole, who was sitting between Tommy Barban and Abe North. She realized that everybody had changed and was putting on their best front, and suddenly she liked everyone; except McKisco who was drinking too much, and who kept interrupting Dick's conversation with useless remarks and questions, to which Dick as indifferent, and after which the conversation would continue. Rosemary slowly studied each person around the table, finding Nicole to be one of the most beautiful people she had ever seen, and slowly becoming aware of the magic that had filled the air. The Divers were talking to everyone at once, making everyone feel at home and assuring them of their friendliness and affection. Then, abruptly, the table broke up and "the moment when the guests had been daringly lifted above conviviality into the rarer atmosphere of sentiment, was over before it could be irreverently breathed, before they had half realized it was there." Book 1, Chapter 7, pg.

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Nicole then approached Rosemary's mother and gave her a yellow evening bag that she had previously admired, telling her that things ought to belong to people who like them. Nicole then disappeared and Rosemary realized that Dick wasn't there either. The guests then distributed themselves in the garden and the terrace. Violet McKisco went to the bathroom, and Rosemary waited around for Dick to reappear, listening to the heated conversation about war between McKisco and Barban. She was about to join her mother when Violet came excitedly rushing down from the house. When Rosemary asked what was wrong, she said that nothing was wrong but that it was it was inadvisable to comment on what goes on in that house.