Chapter 4: Hangovers Are a WIP – 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

Jolene wakes up on her thirty-third birthday with a fierce hangover, immediately recalling a troubling interaction with Miley the night before. She sees that she sent a message to Armin, who read it but hasn’t replied. Her mother FaceTimes and pressures her about her appearance, her love life (using Farsi slang for sex), and her job security. Jolene lies, claiming her job is safe, to avoid worrying her mother. The conversation shifts to a planned dinner with the aunties; Jolene reluctantly agrees. After the call, she takes a bath while playing a song that was playing when her friend Ellie died, and weeps. She did not attend Ellie’s funeral, and the chapter ends with the implication that Ellie’s death was tied to Jolene herself.

Key Events

Jolene wakes up with a severe hangover and remembers running into Miley.
She checks her phone and sees the unresponded message to Armin.
Her mother FaceTimes and interrogates her about makeup, sex, and work.
Jolene lies about job security to maintain her mother’s peace of mind.
Mom invites herself and Dad for dinner; Jolene panics and claims a migraine.
Jolene agrees to a dinner with the aunties the following Monday.
After the call, Jolene takes a bath and replays the song that was playing when Ellie died.
She cries heavily and reflects on not attending Ellie’s funeral.
The chapter closes with Jolene’s thought that Ellie would have lived if they hadn’t been friends.

Character Development

Jolene is shown as deeply isolated and self-destructive. She lies to her mother about her job, avoids meaningful connection, and ritualistically tortures herself by listening to Ellie’s song. Her guilt over Ellie is raw and unresolved, and her relationship with her parents—especially her father—remains strained. The chapter reveals that seven years ago she overheard her father call her a dependent who “won’t even make friends,” which prompted her to move out. This history deepens her sense of shame and her need to appear successful.

Jolene’s mother is controlling yet caring, using guilt to draw Jolene into family obligations. She appears concerned about Jolene’s well-being but expresses it through criticism and pressure about appearances and life milestones.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Guilt and Trauma: Jolene repeatedly plays the song from the moment of Ellie’s death, a form of self-punishment. The guilt is so pervasive that she believes Ellie’s death would not have occurred without their friendship.
Family Pressure vs. Independence: Jolene’s mother tries to pull her back into a communal life (dinner with aunties, moving home), while Jolene clings to her apartment as a symbol of hard-won freedom, even if that freedom is precarious.
Shame and Performance: Jolene constantly performs a version of success for her mother—lying about job security, hiding her apartment’s mess—because the reality of her life would confirm her father’s old assessment.
The Hangover as Metaphor: Jolene’s physical hangover mirrors a lifetime of accumulated angst, drinking, and guilt that has “taken literal bites” out of her.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 4 is the first deep dive into Jolene’s traumatic past. The revelation of Ellie’s death and Jolene’s role in it recasts everything we’ve seen so far—her drinking, her social awkwardness, her self-sabotage—as coping mechanisms for a massive, unprocessed loss. The chapter also solidifies the fraught dynamic with her parents, especially the lingering wound caused by her father’s words. This chapter provides essential emotional context for Jolene’s behavior in the workplace and her interactions with colleagues like Miley and Armin.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Jolene repeatedly play the song that was playing when Ellie died?
Jolene seems to force herself to relive the trauma as a form of punishment. She describes it as a “sick thing” she cannot stop doing, and the act of crying to that song “feels like home,” indicating that her guilt has become a core part of her identity.

2. What does Jolene’s memory of overhearing her father reveal about their relationship?
Seven years ago, Jolene heard her father say she was a “dependent” who “won’t even make friends.” This humiliation drove her to move out and has created a permanent rift. She now only sees him for a sad Christmas dinner, and their birthday exchange is stiff and hollow.

3. How does Jolene’s mother use guilt and obligation to manipulate her?
Jolene’s mother presses her about visiting, mentions that she hasn’t seen her in a long time, and uses the aunties as a pressure point. She also invokes Jolene’s responsibility to be presentable (“I want to be proud that you came out of my kos”). Jolene eventually gives in and agrees to the Monday dinner.