Chapters 16-18 Summary

The Woman Who Would Not Speak: Manfred Weiler's family lives in Hanna's house in an apartment in the back of the building. On New Year's Eve 1952 Manfred's father hung himself. Manfred's father often drank to excess and when he drank he became violent. On that fateful night, Manfred's father held him out the window until his mother told where the grocery money was. Manfred's father took the money and drank at a nearby bar. When he returned home, Manfred's father felt guilty and asked for forgiveness from his wife. The wife refused to speak, refusing even as her husband tied a noose and slipped his neck into it. The man begged his wife to speak, aware that he would soon after to remove his neck from the noose and admit he was too weak to kill himself for her. However, his...