Chapter 93: Then: Because Money Talks – Summary & 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
In the winter of 1969, a sallow infant girl is born to an unwed secretary from the West Indies in London. Rather than entering the official adoption system, the baby is transferred directly to Wanda and Ronald Martin, a well-off white couple who have paid the home for unwed mothers a substantial sum. Wanda and Ronald justify this as “speeding up the process” – they have submitted applications, completed interviews, and waited so long they nearly lost hope. They do not view the transaction as buying a child. As the girl reaches adolescence, her mixed-race appearance becomes unmistakable, yet the Martins choose to ignore it. They tell her she resembles one of her grandfather’s people and reassure themselves that she is still their baby girl, that nothing will change that truth.
Key Events
- A West Indian secretary gives birth to a daughter in 1969 and surrenders her to a London home for unwed mothers.
- Wanda and Ronald Martin pay the home for the direct transfer of the infant, bypassing standard adoption procedures.
- The Martins view the payment as a way to accelerate an otherwise lengthy process, not as purchasing a child.
- By adolescence, the girl’s mixed-race traits are visible, but her adoptive parents pretend not to notice.
- The Martins tell the girl she looks like a relative on her grandfather’s side, reinforcing the fiction that she is biologically theirs.
Character Development
- Wanda and Ronald Martin – The chapter deepens their portrayal as a couple who use financial privilege to fulfill their desire for a child. They are loving and determined, yet their inability to acknowledge their daughter’s racial identity reveals a willful blindness rooted in fear of losing her. Their insistence that race is “outdated” reflects a comfortable, protected worldview.
- The infant girl – Though she is not named or given a voice in this scene, her presence is the catalyst. The chapter sets up her later experience of living with parents who deny a central part of who she is.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Money and Privilege – The payment to the home “speaks” louder than waiting in line. The Martins’ wealth buys them access to a baby, illustrating how money can bend institutional rules.
- Denial of Racial Identity – The Martins’ refusal to see their daughter’s mixed-race heritage, and their claim that race is outdated, represents a form of erasure. They love her but cannot confront the racial difference that will shape her life.
- Belonging vs. Truth – The Martins convince themselves that love alone makes the girl “theirs.” The chapter questions whether belonging can be built on a foundation of unacknowledged reality.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 93 provides a crucial backstory for a major character (likely Eleanor or one of her children) by revealing the circumstances of her adoption. It introduces the tension between a family’s narrative and the child’s actual heritage – a conflict that reverberates through later generations. The chapter also reinforces the novel’s exploration of how secrets and deliberate ignorance can shape family dynamics, and how the past is never fully erased by willpower or money.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the chapter title “Because Money Talks” relate to the events described?
The title underscores that the Martins’ wealth allowed them to bypass the normal adoption process. The payment “spoke” to the home for unwed mothers, securing the baby without official channels.
2. Why do the Martins pretend not to notice their daughter’s racial difference?
They fear that acknowledging her mixed-race appearance would threaten their sense of ownership and familial bond. By insisting race is irrelevant and inventing a family resemblance, they attempt to preserve the illusion that she is fully theirs.
3. What does this chapter reveal about the theme of identity in the novel?
It shows that identity is not simply given by law or love – it is also shaped by ancestry and appearance. The Martins’ denial sets the stage for the child’s later struggle to reconcile the story she was told with the reality she sees in herself.