Summary
After her talk with Zach, Lily goes directly to August’s
room and waits for her. She decides the time has come for them to
talk about her mother. In her room, she feels comfortable and takes
note of the décor, which is all blue and features a picture of the
angel Gabriel offering a white lily to Mary. When August arrives,
they begin to talk at once. Lily learns that August has known her
identity for the entire time that Lily has lived in the house and
that August once knew Deborah. August explains that she worked as
a housekeeper in Deborah’s childhood home and helped raise Deborah
from age 4 to age 19.
August talks about Deborah as a child, and Lily eagerly listens
to every detail. Lily tells August that her father is not really dead,
but that he treated her very badly. After Lily explains to August
what T. Ray had said—that her mother had left Lily behind when she
ran away—Lily begins to cry uncontrollably. August urges her to
cry as much as she needs, to let it all out, and Lily does. After she
is done crying, Lily explains to August why she ran away with Rosaleen.
Finally, she tells August about her role in the death of her mother.
Hearing it all, August tells her that she loves her, and they move
into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, August pours Lily some ice water, and
they continue to talk. Lily shows August her mother’s black Mary
picture, explaining how Lily ended up in Tiburon and at August’s
house. August continues to tell Lily stories about her mother’s
childhood, teenage years, and marriage to T. Ray. She explains that
Deborah met T. Ray after moving to Sylvan and that he was very dedicated
to her for the first few years of their marriage. After she was
married to T. Ray for a while, however, she grew depressed. Eventually,
she contacted August and asked if she could spend some time at the honey
farm with her. August tells Lily that when she agreed, she expected
Deborah would come visit with the baby—the young Lily. When she
arrived, however, August explains, she was alone. Lily is very disturbed
by the idea that her mother left her behind. Lily says that she
hates her mother, which upsets August. She feels very disappointed
in her mother and tells August the story of her mother’s death.
As their conversation ends, all Lily can think about is how her mother
left her behind. “Left you, left you,” Lily repeats to herself.
Lily lies in bed trying to sleep. She is very upset about
her conversation with August. She goes to visit the black Mary statue,
hoping to be able to pray. Instead, she grabs a bunch of honey jars
and smashes them against the wall. When she wakes the next morning, Rosaleen
is there. She helps her clean the honey and glass and consoles her,
bandaging her wounds. Lily explains to Rosaleen what she did and
why. Rosaleen is very sensitive but admits she knew things and never
told Lily because she did not want to hurt her. At noon, the Daughters
of Mary arrive with food for the second day of the Mary Day ritual.
Lily asks August to tell Zach her true story. Everybody bathes the
statue in honey, a preservative, to keep it safe. After the ceremony,
August brings Lily a box of her mother’s belongings. Included are
a mirror, a comb with Deborah’s hair still in it, and a book of
poetry. There is also a picture of Lily as a child with her mother
as a young woman. Looking at the picture, Lily comes to realize
that maybe her mother did love her after all, although in a more
complicated way than Lily originally imagined.
Analysis
Lily’s talk with August serves as one of the novel’s central
climactic moments. Lily has been on a long journey throughout the
course of the novel. Not only has she been searching for an escape
from her oppressive upbringing, for a maternal influence, and for
the truth about her mother, she has also been searching for a confidant
and a friend, someone to whom to tell the truth about her life.
In August, she finds all of these things, plus a mother figure.
August’s sensitivity to Lily’s needs is part of the reason why this
conversation has been so long in coming. When Lily first arrived,
August sensed that Lily was not ready to learn the truth about her
mother. August let Lily find her own way to asking about her mother.
And, when this time finally comes, August provides Lily with a sensitive
ear—and with the pure truth. But the climatic conversation also
answers important questions for readers. Much tension has been building
around the mysteries of Lily’s mother: Was T. Ray lying? Did Lily’s
mother really leave her? Away from T. Ray, developing a strong sense
of self, and feeling love and loved, Lily is now ready to hear the
truth about Deborah. As the novel’s emotional climax, the conversation between
Lily and August fundamentally alters Lily: after learning the truth
about Deborah, Lily will never feel the same way about her mother
again.
Although Deborah never appears in the novel, she is nevertheless an
important character, perhaps the most important person in Lily’s life.
The novel begins with Lily’s memories of her mother: her mother’s
smell, the feelings Lily experienced while around her, her mother’s
last actions. In every chapter, Lily thinks about her mother; during
every occasion, Lily finds a reason to consider her mother. However,
Lily’s mother has been dead for ten years when the novel begins.
Deborah exists as a character only to the extent that Lily keeps
her alive in her imagination. As Lily begins to think less about Deborah,
Deborah becomes less important to the novel and to Lily’s life.
Kidd uses many literary techniques to bring Lily’s mother to life, including
flashbacks, storytelling, and dreams. During her conversation with
August, Lily learns that Deborah essentially abandoned her, and
Lily must now learn to live with that knowledge. Her mother is not
the perfect, magnificent person Lily imagined her to be. Instead,
as August reminds Lily, Deborah was a human being, and like all
humans, Deborah made mistakes.
Lily’s violent reaction to the truth about Deborah exposes
readers to a different side of Lily. When Lily smashes the honey
jars against the wall, she reveals aspects of her personality that
resemble her despised, violent father, T. Ray. Angry at her mother,
Lily reacts violently, much as T. Ray did throughout her childhood.
But her reaction also indicates great grief: at various points in
the novel, Lily has fantasized, cried, run away, and tried to talk
through her feelings, but she has never before destroyed someone
else’s property or acted in a physically violent manner. The severity
of her reaction speaks to the intensity of her hurt over her mother’s
actions. Her violence signifies the hollowness of any action. Her
mother is long dead, so Lily will never be able to confront Deborah
about what she did. All Lily can do is accept the truth and move
on.
