Chapter 10 Summary

This chapter focuses on Jim Williams, who has not been a prominent character since the first chapter. While Savannah society regards him with a great deal of respect, he has a bitter relationship with Lee and Emma Adler, his neighbors. Lee Adler presents himself as an advocate of historic preservation and charitable organizer of revolving funds. Many residents of Savannah resent Lee, because they think he gets more credit than he deserves. Both Jim and Lee are rich, prominent figures in Savannah society, and therefore, the Adlers are invited to Williams' Christmas party every year.

The narrator takes a tour of Savannah with Lee. Lee converses about the move to the suburbs in the early 1900's and Savannah's gradual decay. His mother helped start the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1954, and five years later Lee bought a row of homes on Oglethorpe Street and...