Summary

Part 1: The Inheritors of Loss, continued

In Chapter 5, the novel steps back in time. Jozef is seeking Helen’s father’s permission to marry, but Jozef is told that he must have a career first. This leads Jozef to go to work at the Cording Mill (as the Endless Roughing Mill was then known), which Jonathan Cording owns. The Crash of 1929 causes Cording to kill himself on Christmas Eve. Cording’s daughter, Emma, saves the mill by asking employees to invest. Four employees, including Jozef, put in two-hundred dollars each which Emma matches with her father’s insurance settlement. Under Emma’s ownership, the mill is renamed and thrives. Years pass. Bo goes to work in tallies just like Jozef. Bo ends up owner of the company by 1970. Even now, in the present day, Bo continues to work hard at the mill, even doing...