Chapter 1 Summary

At the opening of the novel, set in London, we see two roommates, Freda and Brenda. They are first introduced to the reader as two women standing at their apartment window looking down on a funeral procession in the street. An elderly woman from an old people's home across the street has died and a few people have gathered in the street to watch the sad procession. We see that these two women are very different; Freda is crying dramatically at the sight of the funeral, even though she did not know the elderly woman who passed away. Brenda, who is easily embarrassed and is even afraid to look out the window, asks Freda why she is crying.

We learn that the two women met in a butcher's shop and have been roommates ever since. Brenda had been married to an alcoholic, whom...