Summary

The second chapter deepens the reader’s understanding of Claudia’s relationship with her brother Gordon through anecdotes and reflections that, again, shift freely in perspective and time.

When Claudia and Gordon were children, Claudia once prayed God would make her brother vanish. So intense was the competitive streak between the two Claudia was driven to send up this prayer when she was racing Gordon at the seaside as a nine-year-old. Claudia then remembers walking on the same shore years later and discussing the impending Second World War. The narration then shifts to 1946, at a lounge bar where Claudia, Jasper, Gordon and Gordon’s wife Sylvia are talking. Gordon is intensely suspicious of Jasper and attempts to interrogate him but is too drunk to be truly intimidating. Jasper responds handily and maintains his decorum and cosmopolitan grace. Claudia and Gordon display their usual intensity and their...