Chapter summaries Greta & Valdin Rebecca K. Reilly

Chapter 38: “Mint” — 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

The chapter opens with V walking through a desolate Auckland Airport at five in the morning, freshly returned from his trip to Colombia. He changes his SIM card back to his New Zealand number with help from a reluctant Vodafone employee, and is flagged for a bag check by customs because he’s come from Colombia. He feels far away even though he’s supposedly home now.

In the arrivals hall, Tang is waiting for him, having tracked V’s flight from Santiago. Tang has changed since V last saw him—more confident, and now the owner of a clean early-nineties white Corolla he bought on Trade Me. During the drive home, Tang updates V on his life: he has a boyfriend named Plan, a politics student in Munich, and he’s been working through mental health struggles with help from Greta and Ell, who helped him tell his father Casper. V apologizes for never reading Tang’s messages, acknowledging he has a responsibility to people and can’t be unreliable. Tang, in turn, offers a philosophy about taking chances in love—what’s the worst that could happen, he reasons, you can always come home.

Back at the apartment, Greta is absent. V buys flowers and groceries he knows she likes, then wanders the empty apartment before calling his mother, Beatrice, who agrees to meet him for lunch at the Fed. Over poutine with pastrami, V tells her about Xabi’s adoption of an eight-year-old boy from Colombia (born in Ecuador), and the complications: Xabi can’t stay in Colombia without a visa, doesn’t want to return to Argentina permanently, and could get the boy a Spanish passport—but that would mean moving to Spain, which V doesn’t want to do at this point in his career.

Beatrice responds by sharing her own history. She was ashamed when she became pregnant with Casper before turning twenty-one, feeling she’d confirmed the low expectations others had of her. She describes the fear of both options—abortion or motherhood—and how Linsh’s sincerity convinced her to go through with it. She admits to jealousy of her university peers and guilt when V was seriously ill as a baby. She tells V none of it was his fault, and that she’s glad he has more choices than she did.

V asks how mad Greta is with him. Beatrice explains Greta isn’t angry—she’s sad that V left her out of his life, as if he’s compiled a list of who matters most and she’s far down it. Casper’s suggestion that V doesn’t respect Greta didn’t help. But Beatrice reassures V that Greta will get over it, just as she got over being excluded from a robotics camp trip and a Casino Royale screening—both of which, it turns out, were motivated by crushes neither sibling admitted to. Finally, V asks if he’d be a good dad. Beatrice says yes.

Key Events

  • V returns to Auckland at 5 a.m. and is met by Tang, who has tracked his flight and bought a car

  • Tang reveals his boyfriend Plan (in Munich) and that Greta and Ell helped him tell Casper about his mental health

  • V apologizes for ignoring Tang’s messages and commits to being more reliable

  • V finds the apartment empty; Greta is absent

  • Over lunch, V tells Beatrice about Xabi’s adoption of Ernesto and the visa complications

  • Beatrice confesses her shame about becoming pregnant young and her fear of being judged

  • Beatrice explains Greta’s sadness rather than anger, and reassures V he’d be a good father

Character Development

V returns from his trip with a new awareness of his responsibilities. He apologizes to Tang for ignoring his messages, acknowledges that people rely on him, and begins to consider what fatherhood might mean for him. His conversation with his mother reveals a more vulnerable side—he asks whether he’d be a good dad, and he’s visibly moved by her confession.

Tang has grown considerably since V last saw him. He’s more confident, has a boyfriend, owns a car, and speaks openly about his mental health. His willingness to meet V at the airport and his casual philosophy about taking chances in love show a maturity that V himself is still catching up to.

Beatrice reveals a deeply personal history in this chapter. Her shame about her pregnancy, her fear of being seen as a statistic, and her jealousy of her university peers humanize her in a way the novel hasn’t fully shown before. Her reassurance to V—that he’s been through enough, that she’s lucky he’s alive—carries significant emotional weight.

Greta appears only through others’ accounts, but her absence is felt throughout. Beatrice’s explanation that Greta is sad rather than angry reframes the sibling conflict: it’s not about respect, but about being left out.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Homecoming and displacement. V feels far away even at home, and the airport—with its familiar accents and cultural references—highlights the gap between where he’s been and where he is. The empty apartment reinforces this sense of not quite belonging.

Communication breakdown and repair. V’s failure to read Tang’s messages, his silence toward Greta, and his month without calling his mother all point to a pattern of withdrawal. The chapter is structured around apologies and reconnection.

Parenthood and generational trauma. Beatrice’s confession about her pregnancy shame, her fear of being judged, and her guilt about V’s illness as a baby all connect to V’s own uncertainty about becoming a father. The chapter suggests that parenting is shaped by the past but doesn’t have to be determined by it.

Taking chances in love. Tang’s philosophy—“you have to take a chance”—echoes V’s situation with Xabi. The chapter contrasts Tang’s willingness to risk a relationship with Plan against V’s hesitation about Spain.

The mint-green waitress dress (the chapter title) is a small visual detail that anchors the lunch scene, a moment of domestic ordinariness against the weight of the conversation.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point for V. It brings him home, forces him to confront the people he’s neglected, and introduces the central dilemma of the novel’s second half: whether he can build a life with Xabi and Ernesto. Beatrice’s confession reframes the family’s history, showing that the shame and fear V carries are inherited, not unique to him. Her reassurance that he’d be a good father is the emotional core of the chapter—a moment of grace that allows V to begin trusting himself. The chapter also deepens Tang’s character, showing how the family’s younger generation is navigating love and mental health with more openness than their elders.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Beatrice’s confession about her pregnancy reshape the reader’s understanding of her character?

Beatrice’s confession reveals that her confidence and competence were hard-won. She was ashamed of becoming pregnant before twenty-one, feeling she’d confirmed the low expectations others had of her. She feared both having the baby and not having it, and she carried guilt about V’s illness as a baby. This history explains her fierce protectiveness of her children and her empathy for Casper’s struggles with Tang. It also shows that the family’s patterns—worry, guilt, fear of judgment—are generational, not individual failings.

2. What does Tang’s conversation with V reveal about the novel’s treatment of mental health and openness?

Tang’s willingness to discuss his mental health, his boyfriend, and even his awkward questions about intimacy shows a younger generation that is more comfortable being vulnerable. Greta and Ell helped him tell Casper about his mental health, and Casper’s response—guided by Greta’s advice not to overreact—suggests that the family is learning to handle these conversations better. Tang’s openness contrasts with V’s month of silence, highlighting the chapter’s theme of communication.

3. Why does Beatrice say Greta is “sad, not angry,” and what does this distinction suggest about the sibling relationship?

Beatrice’s distinction reframes Greta’s reaction to V’s absence. Anger would imply a sense of betrayal or disrespect; sadness implies hurt and a desire for connection. Greta isn’t angry that V left—she’s hurt that he didn’t include her in his life, that she wasn’t important enough to tell. This suggests the siblings’ bond is strong enough that exclusion, not conflict, is what wounds it. Beatrice’s reassurance that Greta will get over it, as she did with past exclusions, points to the resilience of their relationship.

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