Summary

Chapter 11 introduces Ben and Annie, a couple with a 17-day-old baby named Grace. Grace is having trouble nursing, and the narrator explores the other life adjustments that come with a new baby. The sickness feels removed from them, something happening to other people. The couple used to live in Brooklyn, and there is a tone of gratitude when the narrator describes their new home in such a spread out, natural place. “One of the girls from next door” rings their doorbell--it is Libby, the night her father comes home late (65). She asks to go into Ben and Annie’s backyard, where the couple realizes one of Sara and Libby’s kittens has gotten into their backyard and caught a bird. Libby forces the kitten to drop it, but the bird is already dead. Annie worries about the sisters. The narrator reveals some of...