London, 1999 Summary

Briony is writing about her 77th birthday. It begins with a last visit to the Imperial War Museum library in Lambeth, whose reading room formerly served as the chapel of the Royal Bethlehem Hospital, old Bedlam. Briony has always liked tidy endings. Because it is cold and wet, Briony takes a taxi, pondering how she will soon join the ranks of Bedlam's crazies. A scan has shown her headaches are being caused by tiny strokes that are slowly closing down her brain. Eventually she will comprehend nothing at all and require continuous care. Her doctor emphasizes that vascular dementia is slow and not as bad as Alzheimer's, with its mood swings and aggression. The doctor is busy and hurries her out.

Briony spends an hour on the phone telling close friends, who are devastated. Her taxi passes the house in Bloomsbury where her...