Summary

In Chapter 16, Alice is still taking care of the baby. The baby is hungry, but there is no stored breast milk. Leah left the house several hours ago. Alice tries to contact her by phone, but Leah does not respond. In a flashback, the narration focuses on Alice’s time as an undergraduate at Bryn Mawr College. Alice felt out of place there, as most of the other students came from wealthy families. One wealthy student, Lee, befriended Alice and even helped to pay for some of her tuition. Alice eventually became a history teacher at Lehigh University. One day, Christopher came to visit her and to reestablish a friendship with her.

In Chapter 17, Hap learns that his father has finally died of illness. Enigmatically, the narration describes his father as “the second dead father [Hap] neglected to know” (113).

In Chapter 18, in the evening...