Summary

Chapter 17 is titled “A Terrible Beauty Is Born.” Anne feels her life has changed dramatically the moment Thomas believes her, and that Thomas's attitude is also changed. They talk about the incongruity, including that Anne will soon be 31 while Thomas is barely 30, though he was born 80 years before her. She tells him some of the things that she misses and how the world has changed. She says she would love to meet Yeats while she is in Ireland in 1921. They talk about Eoin. Anne regrets that she does not know more about the historical events but Thomas says that “some things are better left to discover” (249). They talk about Eoin's refusal to take Anne to Ireland, and that his experience with her on the lough the day he lost his ball probably prompted his belief that Ireland was not safe for her. Anne...