Chapter 4 – Friday 5th July 2019: 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
On Friday 5th July 2019, eight days and twenty-two hours after the breakup, Andy calls Jen at 7:03 PM. He deliberately waits three minutes past the agreed time to assert a small measure of control. Their phone conversation is strained: Jen adopts a clinical, therapeutic tone while Andy swings between desperate declarations of love and defensive indifference. Jen suggests writing a list of reasons why the breakup is beneficial, an exercise from her therapist. Andy rejects the idea, arguing it invalidates his pain. They argue about whether Andy has told his best friend Avi; he hasn’t. They agree to stop speaking for a while. After the call, Andy’s mother brings him tea laced with Disaronno and plays Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours break-up album. Andy reflects on intimate memories of the relationship, takes a photograph of a jumper and shirt hanging on the washing line (which seem to reach for each other), and cries alone in his childhood bed.
Key Events
- Andy waits until 7:03 PM to call Jen, trying to regain a sense of power.
- The phone conversation reveals miscommunication: Jen says “Hello?” formally, and they bicker over the time.
- Jen suggests writing a list of reasons why ending the relationship is good, a therapeutic exercise.
- Andy refuses, stating he still wants to be together and finds the suggestion clinical.
- Andy admits he hasn’t told his best friend Avi about the breakup.
- They agree to a period of no contact.
- Andy smokes again, despite having quit, and Jen starts smoking again as well.
- Andy’s mother arrives with tea containing Disaronno and plays Frank Sinatra’s break-up album.
- Andy mentally revisits key memories: their first kiss, first argument, first night in their flat, and the physical intimacy of sleeping together.
- He photographs the clothes on the line to preserve the feeling of being loved.
- He closes the curtains and cries in his childhood bed.
Character Development
- Andy: Grief-stricken and volatile. He oscillates between anger and vulnerability, refuses practical coping mechanisms, and regresses to childhood habits (smoking, drinking, seeking his mother’s comfort). His nostalgia for physical details (Jen’s nose, her laugh) shows his inability to let go. He struggles to articulate his pain, relying on sarcasm and dramatic metaphors.
- Jen: Maintains emotional distance but reveals her own pain (she started smoking again too). She uses therapist-informed language to encourage moving on, yet avoids saying “I love you” back, opting for “lots of love.” Her suggestion of the list shows she wants closure, but Andy interprets it as cold.
- Mum: Provides unconditional, practical comfort. She uses humour (“I love Jen! A bit more than you. She bought me lovely candles.”) and introduces the Sinatra album as a ritual for heartbreak, revealing her own experience with loss. She creates a safe space for Andy to break down.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Grief and denial: Andy cannot write the list because accepting reasons for the breakup would mean accepting its reality. He clings to the “fantasy” of the relationship.
- Therapeutic vs. natural grief: Jen’s therapist-inspired self-help language contrasts with Andy’s raw, unstructured mourning. The phone call dramatises the clash between clinical advice and lived emotion.
- Nostalgia and sensory memory: Andy’s thoughts are anchored in specific physical details – her top lip, the mole on her side, the shape they made in bed. These become talismans he cannot release.
- Home and regression: Andy retreats to his childhood bedroom, his mother’s care, and objects like an Aston Villa mug and a scratched CD player. His behaviour (smoking out the window, crying) mirrors adolescence.
- Music as emotional anchor: The Sinatra album represents a shared cultural ritual of heartbreak. His mother’s line “It feels like Christmas” (echoing Jen’s earlier comment) becomes a motif for the suspended, surreal quality of grief.
- Clothes on the washing line: The jumper and shirt seem to hold hands in the wind. Andy photographs them, interpreting them as a sign of lost connection. The image symbolises the couple’s former intimacy and the painful distance now separating them.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is the first extended post-breakup interaction between Andy and Jen, laying bare the communication breakdown and their different emotional needs. It establishes Andy’s isolation from his friendship group (he hasn’t told Avi) and his dependence on his mother. The “list” exercise introduced here may reappear as a psychological device later in the novel. The chapter also deepens the portrait of Andy’s character: his romantic idealism, his difficulty processing loss through rational means, and his retreat into familiar comforts. The final image of him crying in his childhood bed underscores the regression that heartbreak can trigger.
Study Questions and Answers
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Why does Andy wait three minutes after 7:00 to call Jen, and what does this reveal about his state of mind?
He wants to show Jen that she “doesn’t get to call the shots any more,” revealing a need for control in a situation where he feels powerless. It demonstrates his anger, pride, and the way grief mixes with ego. -
What is Jen’s suggestion for helping Andy cope, and why does he reject it?
Jen suggests writing a list of reasons why it’s good they are no longer together, as advised by her therapist. Andy rejects it because he still wants to be together; he feels the exercise is clinical and invalidates his love, reducing their relationship to a set of rational pros and cons. -
How does Andy’s mother comfort him, and what does her choice of music signify?
She brings him tea with Disaronno (alcohol) and plays Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours, which she calls the best break-up album. The music signifies a shared ritual of grief (she listened to it when Andy’s father left) and connects Andy to a longer history of heartbreak, offering solace through tradition and shared experience.