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Summary: The steamer trunk

Present-day Iris receives a copy of a new edition of Laura’s novel, which is now praised as a significant contribution to literature. Iris looks over a collection of notebooks, a manuscript, and first edition copies of the novel. She reflects on how, over the years, scholars and researchers have reached out to try and get more information about Laura and the novel, but she has always refused them. She also reflects on Sabrina and her regret that she doesn’t have a relationship with her own granddaughter.

Summary: The Fire Pit

In the present-day narrative, Walter drives Iris to Toronto so she can meet with her lawyer. Then, he takes her to a restaurant where Iris has been before. Years ago, Iris used to follow Sabrina around in order to keep an eye on her and once followed her to the restaurant. Afterward, Iris asks Walter to drive her to the house where she once lived with Richard.

Summary: Postcards from Europe

It is almost wintertime for present-day Iris. She reminisces about the eight weeks she and Richard spent in Europe for their honeymoon. During the honeymoon, Iris often feels isolated and embarrassed. When they return to Toronto, they move in to a large and fashionable house that Winifred set up in their absence. Almost immediately, Iris gets a phone call from Laura, who frantically explains that their father died a week after Iris left. Laura has been trying to phone and send telegrams the whole time, but Richard intercepted these and kept the news from Iris. When Iris confronts her husband, he explains that he was trying to protect her from grief and worry.

Summary: The eggshell hat

Iris rushes back to Avilion, where Laura explains that their father shut himself in his room and Laura found him dead when days passed without him emerging. Laura thinks Norval drank himself to death upon learning of the permanent closing of all the Chase factories. Iris realizes that after the marriage, Richard went back on the terms of the deal, and the Chase business was consumed anyway.

Summary: Besotted

In the wake of Norval’s death, Richard decides that Laura will come to Toronto to live with him and Iris. Reenie is getting married and moving on to a new life stage. Avilion will become their summer home. Richard has also arranged for Laura to start attending a proper school. Back in Toronto, Iris finds that she has little to do in her new life since Winifred and Richard largely treat her like a child and make all the decisions. One day, while Iris wanders around Toronto aimlessly, she runs into Alex Thomas on the street.

Summary: Sunnyside

On the day that Laura is due to arrive in Toronto, she doesn’t appear, and no one seems to know where she has gone. After a few days, Richard and Iris alert the police, and the media catches on to the story. Finally, someone calls in to report that Laura is working at a local amusement park. Richard first ensures that a cover story will be issued to explain her disappearance, and then he and Iris go to retrieve her. Laura returns home without protest, explaining that she was enjoying the simple life she was leading. In private, Laura explains to Iris that she believes Richard is responsible for the death of their father, and she doesn’t want to feel that they are dependent on him. Iris soothes her sister.

Summary: Xanadu

In the autumn of 1935, the new household settles into an uneasy routine. Laura attends school, and Winifred delegates society tasks to Iris in order to keep her busy. Together, they plan a charity ball which is themed around the fantasy land of Xanadu. One day, Laura confides to Iris that she saw Alex Thomas. She didn’t stop him because she believes it was safer that he didn’t see her. Iris scolds her sister for having a crush and does not mention that she has also seen Alex.

Analysis: Part VII

In Iris’s life as an elderly woman, her only ongoing connection to her family is her granddaughter Sabrina. However, this relationship is marked by alienation and estrangement, evoking how the generational trauma of the Chase family continues to be passed down. Sabrina is particularly isolated from any connection to the Chase branch of the family. She does not know who her father is, and her mother died when she was very young. Winifred previously used Aimee to get revenge on Iris, and she does so again by seizing custody of Sabrina after Aimee’s death. Iris cannot play any role in her granddaughter’s life, and she is haunted by fears that Sabrina has grown up hating her. While Iris often seems reserved and unemotional, the depths of her love and loneliness become clear when it is revealed that she sometimes follows Sabrina and Winifred around simply to get a glimpse of the child and ensure she is being cared for.

While he has always seemed somewhat sinister, Richard’s full villainy emerges after the honeymoon. Iris spends weeks believing a false reality because she does not have the letters and telegrams that would contradict it. Richard’s behavior is incredibly cruel toward both Iris and Laura because he forces Laura to feel alone and abandoned in the immediate wake of her grief. She doesn’t know what to do and can’t understand why Iris won’t respond. Moreover, Iris also finds out that Richard is arguably responsible for Norval’s death. Richard went back on the business deal between the two men, and Norval drank himself to death out of rage and grief once he knew he was going to lose his family legacy. Richard does not have any sense of personal integrity and is willing to do whatever is necessary to get what he wants.

After the death of her father, Laura’s actions display her discomfort with Richard and the life she is expected to live. She begs Iris to leave Richard and suggests that they could be financially independent, which shows how Laura is progressive and forward-thinking. Despite having always grown up with a lot of material comforts, Laura is willing to give up her entire way of life if it means she can stay true to her principles. Through the job she procures at the amusement park, Laura foreshadows her later escape into an independent life and shows that she is willing and able to take the risks she needs to. Iris, however, is much less confident, and also has more at stake. She knows it will not be simple to leave Richard, and she fears what might happen if she and Laura try to stand on their own feet. Even though Laura eventually agrees to tolerate living in Toronto with Richard and Iris, she continues to demonstrate her unhappiness and resistance.

Alex’s return to the narrative reflects the role of chance in altering someone’s life. It is a simple coincidence that Iris runs into him on the street, but it is also a consequence of her unhappy and isolated life. Iris has lots of time to wander the streets in the middle of the day because she has nothing to do and no connection to her husband, which actually leads her back to Alex. The outcome of Iris running into Alex is left ambiguous; she does let him know that she has seen him, but it is unclear what happens afterward. Laura, on the other hand, claims that she prioritized Alex’s safety and did not reach out to him, but Iris is suspicious of this claim. This moment marks the first incident in an ongoing period where Iris second guesses whether Laura is meeting with Alex in secret. On one hand, Laura has a history of willful behavior and hiding her relationship with Alex. On the other, Iris’s suspicions about her sister may actually point toward the behavior she herself is engaging in.


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