Chapter 17 — “Fourteen”: Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 17, “Fourteen,” opens with Adelaide spending her first Christmas away from home, in London, alongside her flatmate Madison and their friend Celeste. The three women are still waiting for their Tier 2 work visas to be approved, so they cannot leave the country. On Christmas Eve, they gather at their favorite Bethnal Green pub, holding hands and making a pact to reunite once their visas come through (which, the narrative notes, will happen by January 3rd). Back at the flat, they watch Love, Actually, sip hot chocolate, and admire a small Christmas tree Adelaide has decorated with gold ornaments and a picture of Beyoncé, which she nicknames “Treeyoncé.”
Christmas morning brings gift exchanges in pajamas, more holiday films, a feast for ten, and a FaceTime call to Adelaide’s family in Massachusetts—her parents, sisters, nephew, and her Pomeranian, Puff. Her mother has sent Christmas crackers, which the women pop over sparkling cider, reading the corny jokes aloud.
Two days later, Rory returns from Galway. Adelaide meets him at his flat, carrying leftovers and a bag of presents. Knowing Rory is a fan of A Christmas Carol, she has organized gifts around the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Months earlier, she had asked him about his favorite childhood Christmas gift, and he told her about receiving Roald Dahl’s The BFG and a VHS tape from his parents the last Christmas they spent together before they died; he lost both at boarding school and cried for days. Adelaide tracked down a 2000 edition of The BFG and a VHS tape from that same year, wrapping them with a tag reading “From the Ghost of Christmas Past.” The present gift is a green knit sweater and a Kanye West vinyl; the future gift is tickets to a Pierre Bonnard exhibition at the Tate Modern. Rory opens the gifts in reverse order, and his eyes well up when he reaches The BFG. He gives Adelaide gifts too—a plush Pomeranian, a Ruth Bader Ginsburg biography, and a certificate for afternoon tea at the Wolseley.
Their intimacy takes a dark turn when Rory, during sex, grabs Adelaide’s ponytail and pushes her head down. Adelaide is instantly transported back to her high school bedroom, where her first boyfriend, Emory, emotionally and sexually abused her. She begins to cry and apologizes, embarrassed. Rory shushes her, cradles her, and asks what happened. Adelaide explains that she dated a boy in high school who was emotionally and sometimes sexually abusive, and that Rory’s action triggered her. Rory apologizes, holds her, and asks if he can read her a poem. He pulls The Poetry Pharmacy from his shelf and reads Derek Mahon’s “Everything Is Going to Be All Right.” (Adelaide later wonders if the book was a gift from Nathalie, but pushes the thought aside.)
On New Year’s Eve, Adelaide had promised a quiet night in, but ends up the only person on the dance floor at a pub, in a pink dress and glittery heels she quickly kicks off. Celeste and Rory watch from a table, laughing. Adelaide reels Rory onto the dance floor for “Wannabe,” and they share several rounds of whiskey shots. At five minutes to midnight, Rory hoists her over his shoulder and carries her to Waterlow Park, where they kiss as fireworks light up the sky. Adelaide calls her family, and her two-year-old nephew roars like a lion; Rory growls back.
Around 2 a.m., Rory carries Adelaide to bed and kisses her forehead. When she asks, “Are you my boyfriend now?” he deflects, calling her a bright spot and a bit of sunshine, but admits he still doesn’t trust relationships and isn’t sure he’s good at them anymore. He declines to stay the night, saying he needs a decent sleep.
At five in the morning, Adelaide’s phone rings. It’s Eloise, FaceTiming from New York, holding up her left hand to reveal a diamond. Nico proposed on the Brooklyn Bridge just after midnight, with champagne and fireworks. Adelaide is thrilled, and Eloise asks her to be her Maid of Honor, with weddings planned for August in New York and Mykonos. Adelaide sends flowers and ouzo to Eloise, and a few days later receives a bouquet folded from the pages of Little Women, with a note calling her “my very own Jo March.” Adelaide cries—happy, sad, exhausted, hungover, overwhelmed—and buries the thought that she might never be loved the way Eloise is loved.
Key Events
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Adelaide spends her first Christmas away from home with Madison and Celeste, awaiting visa approvals.
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The women celebrate Christmas Eve at a Bethnal Green pub and exchange gifts on Christmas morning, including a FaceTime call to Adelaide’s family.
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Rory returns from Galway, and Adelaide gives him A Christmas Carol–themed gifts, including a 2000 edition of The BFG that moves him to tears.
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During sex, Rory’s actions trigger Adelaide, who discloses her past emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her high school boyfriend Emory.
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Rory comforts Adelaide and reads her a poem from The Poetry Pharmacy.
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On New Year’s Eve, Adelaide dances at a pub, and she and Rory kiss at midnight in Waterlow Park.
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Rory declines to stay the night and stops short of calling himself Adelaide’s boyfriend.
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At dawn, Eloise calls to announce her engagement to Nico, and later asks Adelaide to be her Maid of Honor for August weddings in New York and Mykonos.
Character Development
Adelaide reveals her deepest vulnerability in this chapter. Her gift-giving—meticulously researched and emotionally precise—shows how she expresses love through attention to detail and memory. Her disclosure about Emory marks a significant step toward honesty in her relationship with Rory, even though she holds back the full story. Her tears at the end of the chapter, mixing joy for Eloise with fear for herself, reveal her fragile self-worth and her longing for a love she doubts she deserves.
Rory shows genuine care and tenderness when Adelaide is triggered, cradling her and reading her a poem. Yet his refusal to commit—declining to stay the night, avoiding the “boyfriend” label—reveals his own fear of intimacy and his lingering distrust of relationships. His warmth and his distance exist side by side, leaving Adelaide in an ambiguous space.
Eloise moves from a background presence to a pivotal one, announcing her engagement and drawing Adelaide into her wedding plans. Her gesture—the Little Women flowers and the Maid of Honor request—reinforces the depth of their friendship, even as it sharpens Adelaide’s anxieties about her own romantic future.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
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Found family: Adelaide’s Christmas with Madison and Celeste, and her reflection that she is still spending the holiday with family, underscores the theme of chosen bonds.
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Gift-giving as love language: Adelaide’s A Christmas Carol gifts are a testament to how she shows love—through memory, research, and emotional precision. The BFG gift, in particular, connects past loss to present care.
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Trauma triggers and memory: The ponytail moment shows how the past can intrude on the present, and how intimacy can be complicated by unresolved abuse.
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Healing through poetry and comfort: Rory’s reading of Derek Mahon’s poem offers a quiet, literary form of consolation, suggesting that words can be a balm.
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Commitment anxiety and fear of change: Rory’s refusal to commit, and Adelaide’s fear that she will never be loved “like that,” both circle around the terror of vulnerability and the unknown.
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New beginnings: The New Year’s kiss, the engagement, and the Maid of Honor request all signal fresh starts—yet Adelaide’s tears suggest that new beginnings can be as frightening as they are hopeful.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is a turning point in Adelaide’s emotional arc. It is the first time she fully discloses her history of abuse to Rory, and his response—gentle, patient, and literary—offers a model of care that contrasts sharply with the abuse she endured. At the same time, Rory’s inability to commit, even after this moment of intimacy, sets up the central tension of their relationship. The chapter also introduces Eloise’s engagement, which will shape the novel’s second half, and Adelaide’s fear of being left behind romantically becomes explicit. The final line of the chapter, “If only he’d known,” foreshadows the difficulties ahead in 2019.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does Adelaide’s A Christmas Carol gift exchange reveal her character and her approach to love?
Adelaide’s gifts are meticulously researched and emotionally precise, showing that she pays close attention to the people she loves and expresses affection through tangible, meaningful objects. The BFG gift, in particular, connects Rory’s childhood loss to her present care, demonstrating that she sees and honors his past. This gift-giving is one of the few things she takes pride in, which hints at her low self-worth elsewhere.
2. What does the trauma disclosure scene reveal about Adelaide and Rory’s relationship?
Adelaide’s disclosure shows her growing trust in Rory, even as she holds back the full story. Rory’s response—cradling her, apologizing, and reading her a poem—shows his capacity for tenderness and emotional presence. However, his later refusal to commit or stay the night reveals a gap between his care in moments of crisis and his willingness to fully invest in the relationship.
3. How does Eloise’s engagement function in this chapter, both for the plot and for Adelaide’s emotional state?
Eloise’s engagement introduces a major plot development—the August weddings in New York and Mykonos—and gives Adelaide a role as Maid of Honor. Emotionally, it sharpens Adelaide’s fears about being loved and her doubts about whether anyone, including Rory, will ever choose her. Her tears at the end of the chapter mix genuine happiness for Eloise with a painful awareness of her own romantic uncertainty.
Navigation
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