Chapter 5 Summary

This chapter plunges back into the past with the death of Norbert, the narrator's great-grandfather. After his death, Albertine returns to France occasionally with her daughter, Charlotte, but never stays long. Her family can't understand why she would want to remain in Russia, especially since she has no money there. Albertine, it seems, had felt as if she were bound for Siberia, as if it was her destiny. Charlotte remembers that each time she and her mother had returned home, they had had less money than before and always resettled in a smaller apartment. She had been teased ruthlessly in school, both by her teachers and fellow pupils, and had been saddened to see her mother's dependence on morphine grow. In time, her mother had been completely lost to the world, caring only about her drugs which Charlotte had often gone to the...