53 pages • 1 hour read
Claire MessudA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chloe and Oliver arrive in Toulon. Barbara and François are already there. Gaston is dying, and his new housekeeper (Fatima), Denise, and a hired nurse attend to him. Barbara has seen death before. Both her parents are deceased, and she knows that it’s a long and bitter march to the end. She would rather be elsewhere, and she would rather that her life be different, but she knows that thinking about the choices she could have made is a waste of time. She recalls how foolish she was as a young woman. She fell in love with François because for her he evoked a foreign mystique. She didn’t realize at the time that he was just a man and that their life together would be entirely lacking in mystery. They have long been unhappy together. For years she assumed that they would eventually divorce, but one day she realized that their destiny was together. She tolerated his secret drinking, misery, and fits of anger, and he tolerated her almost complete lack of love and affection for him. She still occasionally finds moments of joy in their union, though. One day, they all take a break from sitting by Gaston’s bedside and go for a walk around town.
By Claire Messud
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Brothers & Sisters
View Collection
Childhood & Youth
View Collection
Colonialism & Postcolonialism
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Daughters & Sons
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Fathers
View Collection
French Literature
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Globalization
View Collection
Marriage
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Mothers
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection
The Booker Prizes Awardees & Honorees
View Collection
The Future
View Collection
The Past
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection
War
View Collection