Chapter 29 Summary – Vertigo and the Journey to New York

⚠️ 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

The chapter opens four years after the narrator’s planned cross-country drive. Now forty-nine, she flies to New York for the first stop of her book tour. On the plane she thinks about the transformative journey she never took and scrolls through photos. She still has Davey’s number. After initially deciding not to text him, she impulsively messages him with a photo of tiles and the space behind a toilet. Davey hearts the picture and they exchange texts; he invites her to an event he and Dev are doing the next afternoon. The narrator offers to put him on the guest list for her reading.

Upon landing, rush‑hour traffic makes her anxious and hungry. In her hotel room on the thirty‑fourth floor she eats minibar snacks and room‑service pasta, but something still feels wrong. When she lies down she experiences violent vertigo—a sensation of falling whenever she shuts her eyes. Panicked, she calls her girlfriend Jordi, who is in London. Jordi researches symptoms and suggests labyrinthitis or a displaced ear crystal, possibly caused by flying or estrogen fluctuations. She sends a link to the Epley maneuver, a series of head turns designed to reposition the crystal.

Following Jordi’s voice‑over instructions, the narrator repeats the maneuver five times per set. The movements feel arbitrary and cyclical. She becomes disoriented and nauseous, vomiting quietly on the floor, but keeps going as she senses the presence of her grandmother Esther and her aunt Ruthie, who urge her to continue. Eventually the motions become effortless, like breathing. She closes her eyes and falls asleep.

Key Events

The narrator flies to New York four years later than originally planned, now forty‑nine.
On the plane she decides not to text Davey, then changes her mind and sends a picture of tiles and a toilet space.
Davey hearts the picture and they arrange to meet at his event and her reading.
After landing, traffic makes her frantic and hungry; she eats in her hotel room.
Lying down triggers vertigo: every time she closes her eyes she feels as if she is falling.
She calls Jordi, who diagnoses possible labyrinthitis or a dislodged ear crystal and instructs her on the Epley maneuver.
The narrator performs the maneuver repeatedly, guided by Jordi’s voice and the imagined presence of her grandmother and aunt.
She vomits from dizziness but continues until the movements become automatic and she finally sleeps.

Character Development

The Narrator shows vulnerability and persistence. Four years after aborting her cross‑country odyssey, she confronts physical and emotional vertigo. Her decision to text Davey reveals lingering desire, while her reliance on Jordi and the spectral encouragement of her female ancestors highlight a deepening connection to the women in her life. The vertigo episode forces her to surrender control and trust a repetitive, ambiguous process.
Jordi emerges as a steady, knowledgeable partner. Despite the time difference and the narrator’s panic, she calmly researches symptoms, provides a solution, and coaches her through the Epley maneuver.
Davey remains an object of desire and uncertainty. His friendly, casual texts contrast with the narrator’s intense feelings, and his invitation suggests mutual interest, though his relationship with “Dev” is unclear.
Esther and Ruthie (the narrator’s grandmother and aunt) appear as guiding spirits. Their encouragement during the vertigo episode implies a generational continuity and the narrator’s growing openness to intangible support.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Vertigo as metaphor: The disorienting physical sensation mirrors the narrator’s emotional state—her unresolved feelings for Davey, her stalled transformation, and the four‑year gap in her life.
The Epley maneuver: Repetitive, purposeless movement becomes a ritual of endurance. The narrator compares it to a dance (Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A) and a prayer, suggesting that meaning emerges from the act of persisting without a clear end.
Flight and distance: Flying to New York contrasts with the abandoned road trip; the “buoyant forcefield” joke underscores her heightened anxiety. The hotel’s height amplifies her sense of falling.
Female lineage: Esther and Ruthie’s voices guide her through the vertigo, linking this modern crisis to ancestral wisdom. The narrator “rededicates” herself with an ever‑widening understanding, as if joining a long tradition of women enduring physical trials.
Text messaging: The casual, abbreviated medium (emojis, “hearting”) masks deep emotional stakes. The narrator deletes a vulnerable draft (“You might, um, recognize some parts”), opting for a neutral tone.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 29 is a turning point in the narrator’s internal journey. The physical ordeal of vertigo and the Epley maneuver becomes an unexpected rite of passage, replacing the abortive cross‑country trip with a subtler transformation. The presence of her grandmother and aunt elevates the scene beyond a medical episode into a spiritual inheritance. The dual threads of re‑contacting Davey and enduring the vertigo set up the climactic New York encounter, while the narrator’s vulnerability with Jordi deepens their relationship. This chapter crystallizes the novel’s themes of delayed desire, female lineage, and the search for meaning in repetitive, ambiguous acts.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does the narrator decide to text Davey after initially putting her phone away?

She watches Moonstruck for a few minutes, taps pause, and impulsively texts him. The act feels “offhandedly, almost without noticing,” suggesting that her longing overrides her earlier resolve. She sends a photo of the tiles and the space behind the toilet—an intimate, mundane detail that recalls their past encounter.

2. What does Jordi identify as the likely cause of the narrator’s vertigo?

Jordi says the vertigo could be labyrinthitis or a dislodged ear crystal, possibly triggered by flying (air‑pressure change) or fluctuations in estrogen. She recommends the Epley maneuver to reposition the crystal. The cause remains ambiguous; the treatment is a repetitive series of head movements.

3. How do the apparitions of Esther and Ruthie influence the narrator during the Epley maneuver?

When the narrator feels “very far away” and wants to stop, she senses Esther and Ruthie on either side of her, urging her to keep going. Their presence transforms the arbitrary movements into a rededicated practice. The narrator continues “rededicating over and over again with an ever‑widening understanding of the task at hand,” eventually losing all sense of time and body. The ancestors shift the experience from a medical exercise to a spiritual trial.