Chapter 22: Reginald – Escape, Drinking, and a Distant Daughter
⚠️ 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
Reginald—“Reg”—volunteers for the Home Guard, telling Millie he needs to do more than his factory job. Privately, he admits the real reason is to get out of the flat: he dreads what mood he will find in Millie. She has grown volatile, drinking heavily and lashing out. Some days she is the woman he married; other days she is furious at everything. He regrets not joining the army at the outset of the war, though he had been a year above conscription age and was wary because of his brother’s Great War experience. He now realizes he is separated from his wife and his daughter, whom he still believes was right to send to America.
One Saturday after Home Guard training, he finds Millie on the couch with a letter from Beatrix. Millie reads it aloud with a mocking edge. The letter describes catching a bluefish, cooking it with lemon, playing tennis, and swimming races. Reg revels in the details that let him see his daughter’s new life. Millie, however, asks whether those Americans even know there is a war on. The argument escalates: Reg says Beatrix is happy, which was their goal; Millie says she wanted to keep her home. Reg counters with horror stories he has heard about evacuees in the English countryside—a boy beaten for breaking a dish, a girl raped by her host father. Millie is not shocked but retaliates by saying they cannot be certain such things aren’t happening to Beatrix. She accuses Reg of cozily trusting the Americans. Reg slumps in his chair, closes his eyes, and pictures Beatrix climbing out of the water, grinning. He is sure she is safe.
Key Events
- Reginald joins the Home Guard to stay occupied and avoid the flat.
- He comes home after a Saturday of drills to find Millie drunk and reading a letter from Beatrix.
- The letter describes Beatrix catching and eating a bluefish, playing tennis, and other summer activities.
- Millie mocks the idyllic American life and questions whether the family even knows a war is on.
- Reg and Millie fight about the decision to send Beatrix abroad.
- Reg tells Millie disturbing reports of abuse of evacuees in rural England.
- Millie turns the fear back on Reg, suggesting Beatrix could be hiding abuse behind her cheerful letters.
- The chapter ends with Reg mentally retreating into a hopeful image of his daughter.
Character Development
Reginald has been a peripheral figure in earlier chapters. Here, his interior life is revealed. He is a man torn between duty and a deep need for peace. His decision to join the Home Guard is not patriotic zeal but an escape from domestic tension. He expresses regret over not enlisting, yet he also feels relief that he didn’t have to go to war. He clings to the letters from Beatrix as a lifeline, visualizing her joy to soothe himself. His patience with Millie is fraying, but he still tries to defuse arguments rather than escalate them.
Millie is shown at her lowest. Her coping mechanism—alcohol—fuels her bitterness. She is trapped in grief over Beatrix’s absence and uses the letter to provoke a fight. She does not truly believe Beatrix is in danger; her accusations are a weapon against Reg’s optimism. Her laughter is “grating,” and she is aware that she hides the truth of her misery from Beatrix just as she suspects Beatrix may be hiding the truth from them.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The Home Guard as refuge. The drills occupy Reg’s body and mind, giving him hours when he can think about nothing else. The home front becomes a battlefield in its own right—not against the Germans, but against despair and marital conflict.
The letter as both bridge and veil. Beatrix’s letter presents an idealized American summer. For Reg, it is a window into her happiness; for Millie, it is a possible lie. The chapter interrogates the gap between what is written and what is real, and asks whether any correspondence can truly represent life.
Alcohol as symptom and cause. Millie’s drinking amplifies her anger and suspicion. The bottle on the coffee table becomes a silent character, signaling that their home is no longer a safe haven.
Trust versus doubt. Reg chooses to trust the Gregory family and Beatrix’s accounts. Millie chooses to doubt. Their opposing stances reflect the psychological strain of separation. The chapter suggests that survival may require willed belief, even when evidence is incomplete.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 22 is the first to present Reginald’s point of view directly. Until now, the reader has seen the war’s impact mainly through Beatrix, the Gregorys, and the parents in London. Here, the focus shifts to the father who stayed behind, revealing that the decision to send a child away does not end the parent’s anxiety—it merely changes its shape. The chapter also deepens Millie’s character, showing that her alcoholism and rage are rooted in a love that cannot be physically expressed. By placing their argument around a simple letter, Spence-Ash underlines how small domestic objects can carry huge, painful weight. The chapter lays the emotional groundwork for later tensions when Beatrix returns to England.
Study Questions and Answers
-
What purpose does Reginald’s Home Guard service serve in both his public and private life?
Publicly, it allows him to contribute more to the war effort beyond his factory work. Privately, it is a way to avoid the volatile atmosphere at home. The drills exhaust him and occupy his mind, offering a temporary reprieve from worrying about Millie’s mood and Beatrix’s absence. -
How does the letter from Beatrix function differently for Reg and for Millie?
For Reg, the letter is a confirmation that Beatrix is safe, happy, and thriving; he uses the details to picture her life vividly. For Millie, it is a painful reminder of what she has lost. She reads it with a sarcastic tone and twists its content to suggest that Beatrix may be lying or that the Americans are callous to the war. -
What is the significance of Reginald’s final visualization of Beatrix climbing out of the water?
It represents his deliberate choice to embrace hope and trust over fear. In the midst of the fight, he closes his eyes and conjures a joyful image of his daughter. This mental act is his survival mechanism—a way to hold onto the belief that sending her away was the right decision, even when his wife tries to undermine that belief.