Chapter 10 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ 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 Jess leaving the hospital, craving movement after her unsettling visit with Nora. She asks the taxi to drop her at the top of the promontory so she can walk back along the cliffs toward Darling House. The fresh air helps, but she remains rattled. Nora's plea, “Jessy, help me,” and her confusion feel significant; Jess refuses to accept that Nora is in general decline. She suspects something specific upset her grandmother before the fall.

Jess detours past the apartment complex where she and Polly once lived, remembering the lavender her mother picked and the jam jars on the windowsill. The sight makes her wistful. She then heads to Nora's house, thinking about Patrick's report that Nora had been out of sorts, and about Nora's repeated words: “He's going to take her from me.” Jess wonders about the custody arrangements from Polly's infancy, realizing she never questioned them before. She also feels a distant memory stirring around the word Halcyon.

When she reaches Darling House, she doesn't go inside. Instead, she follows the path into the oldest part of the garden, a cool grove of ferns and busy lizzies where she loved to read as a child. There, the memory of Halcyon surfaces fully.

The narrative shifts to a flashback: Jess's first funeral, the wake for Nora's older brother, Thomas. Jess is ten years old. She finds the name “wake” odd because the guest of honor is decidedly un-awake. Her mother, Polly, is anxious and warns Jess not to pry or ask questions. At the funeral, Jess watches the coffin slide away, disappointed that nothing magical happens. She notices Nora's composed mask, a linen handkerchief in her closed palm.

Jess examines a black-and-white photograph of Thomas propped on the chiffonier at the wake. She likes his look—the jaunty hat, the wide smile, the long stride along a city street. She also overhears two women whispering about “the prodigal brother” and “the English rose,” though she doesn't understand their meaning.

The flashback then goes further back: Jess and Polly were visiting Darling House when Nora received the phone call about Thomas's death. Jess asks questions about where he lived and why he stayed away. Nora explains he was born with wanderlust. Polly tries to silence Jess, but Nora insists, “She's my granddaughter, Polly. We deserve to know each other.” Polly deflects by asking about the funeral.

Back at the wake, Jess escapes to the garden to get away from the crowd. She takes off her uncomfortable velvet dress and sits in her singlet, wishing she had a book. While exploring, she hears voices from the summerhouse: Nora and a man called Mr. Friedman. They discuss selling the paddocks, and then Mr. Friedman asks about “Halcyon.” Nora reacts with a guttural groan, collapsing onto the bench, her face hidden. She begs him not to say the name, insisting the place must be sold at once—it is nothing but an awful millstone.

The chapter ends with Jess's memory of that moment, the word Halcyon now firmly connected to her grandmother's anguish.

Key Events

• Jess leaves the hospital and walks along the cliffs, detouring past her childhood apartment.

• She reflects on Nora's confusion and the repeated phrase about someone taking a baby.

• She remembers the word Halcyon and is drawn into a flashback.

• The flashback depicts Thomas's funeral and wake at Darling House.

• Jess overhears cryptic remarks about “the prodigal brother” and “the English rose.”

• She recalls the phone call when Nora learned of Thomas's death and the conversation about wanderlust.

• Nora tells Polly, “We deserve to know each other,” but Polly changes the subject.

• At the wake, Jess hides in the garden and overhears Nora's anguished reaction to the name Halcyon.

• Nora insists the place must be sold, calling it a millstone.

Character Development

Jess is shown as both a perceptive adult and a curious child. As an adult, she trusts her instincts about Nora's mental state, refusing to accept a simple explanation. Her detour to the old apartment reveals her nostalgia and her deep connection to her mother. The flashback highlights her childhood intelligence and her tendency to observe and question, even when told not to. Her memory of the summerhouse scene is a key piece of the puzzle she's trying to solve.

Nora emerges as a woman of deep, hidden grief. At the funeral, she maintains a composed facade, but her reaction to the name Halcyon exposes raw pain. Her plea to Mr. Friedman—“I cannot bear to hear that name”—shows that the place holds traumatic memories. Her earlier statement to Polly, “We deserve to know each other,” reveals a longing for connection that Polly seems to resist.

Polly is portrayed as anxious and protective, setting strict rules for Jess's behavior at Darling House. Her deflection when Nora speaks of knowing each other suggests unresolved tension between mother and daughter.

Mr. Friedman appears briefly but serves as a catalyst for Nora's breakdown, asking about Halcyon and forcing her to confront the past.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Halcyon is the central symbol in this chapter—a place that carries immense emotional weight. For Nora, it represents loss, guilt, or something too painful to name. The word itself becomes a trigger for memory and grief.

Family secrets are pervasive. The whispered comments about the prodigal brother and the English rose hint at hidden history. Nora's refusal to hear the name Halcyon suggests a secret she has buried for decades.

Memory and forgetting are explored through Jess's fragmented recollection. The word Halcyon surfaces like a fish in an ocean pool, elusive until she reaches the garden. The chapter shows how physical places can unlock buried memories.

The garden as refuge is a motif. As a child, Jess escapes to the overgrown garden to be alone; as an adult, she returns there to think. The summerhouse, however, becomes a site of painful revelation.

The past intruding on the present is evident as Jess's adult investigation is interrupted by a vivid childhood memory. The chapter blurs the line between then and now, suggesting that understanding the present requires revisiting the past.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal because it introduces the mystery of Halcyon and connects it directly to Nora's emotional state. Jess's memory of the summerhouse conversation provides a concrete clue: Nora's distress is tied to a specific place, not just to her brother's death. The chapter also deepens the family drama by revealing Nora's desire to know Jess better, which Polly seems to thwart. The cryptic remarks about the prodigal brother and the English rose plant seeds for future revelations. Finally, the chapter establishes Jess's investigative drive—she is determined to uncover what upset Nora, and this memory gives her a starting point.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Jess refuse to believe that Nora's confusion is due to general mental decline?

Jess has spoken to Nora weekly on the phone and found her fine. She believes something specific upset Nora before the fall, and she is determined to figure out what it was. Her intuition, combined with Patrick's report and Nora's repeated words about someone taking a baby, convinces her that there is a concrete trigger.

2. What does the flashback reveal about the relationship between Nora and Polly?

The flashback shows Nora asserting her right to know her granddaughter, while Polly tries to keep Jess from prying. Polly's deflection when Nora says “We deserve to know each other” suggests tension and perhaps a deliberate distance. The chapter implies that Polly may have been protecting Jess from something, or that there is unresolved conflict between mother and daughter.

3. How does the word Halcyon function as a symbol in this chapter?

Halcyon is a place that Nora cannot bear to hear named. It represents a source of deep pain, likely connected to Thomas and possibly to other family secrets. For Jess, the word becomes a key to unlocking a buried memory, symbolizing how the past can resurface unexpectedly and demand attention.

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