Book 2: Chapter 5 Summary

One day Lily sees Carry Fischer in the street. Carry apologizes profusely for not speaking out in Lily's defense against Bertha Dorset, and invites her to stay for a while with the Gormers, the new family Carry is working with. The Gormer crowd is a completely different social set than the in which circle Lily used to be included. Carry describes it as a "social Coney Island," where all oddballs, misfits, and troublemakers are welcome, as long as they are contributing to the merriment. Lily accepts the invitation, and although she has previously snubbed this particular area of society, she is grateful for their friendly acceptance of her.

Lily gets on well with the Gormers and their friends, and at the end of the weekend, Carry Fischer suggests that Lily take her place for a summer in Alaska. She accepts, despite...