Chapter Twenty-Eight 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
The chapter opens with Leora telling Julia she wants to keep the bracelet because Gabe wore it every day and it is part of him now. Struck by the implication, Julia flees to Tamara’s bedroom. Elizabeth joins her there, arms folded, and after confirming that Desert Sushi is in Joshua Tree, reveals she already knew Julia slept with Gabe. Elizabeth mocks Julia’s revelation that it wasn’t while they were together, then connects the bracelet to Julia and the secret weekend in August. Julia tries to explain the timeline—the brief affair, Gabe’s disappearance after learning about the baby, his eventual return to Los Angeles and the missed meeting at Hotel Frank. Elizabeth dismisses Julia’s apologies, insists the truth is not about her, and dismantles Julia’s attempt to prove Gabe didn’t love her. Pushed to her breaking point, Julia cries out that she will never know what Gabe wanted to say because she didn’t go to the hotel. Elizabeth, exhausted, calls Julia emotionally stunted like Gabe, declares grief is a monster that must be faced, and then slams Tamara’s door after a final “fuck the both of you.”
Key Events
- Leora asks to keep the bracelet, prompting Julia to leave the table.
- Elizabeth follows Julia to the bedroom and confirms she knew about the Joshua Tree affair.
- Julia admits to the weekend with Gabe and details the sequence that led to her missing his final call.
- Elizabeth accuses Julia of manufacturing a love triangle to avoid accepting Gabe’s feelings.
- Julia breaks down, confessing she cannot face the uncertainty of what Gabe would have said.
- Elizabeth declares that grief is a monster and that Julia must step into the water rather than avoid it.
- Elizabeth slams the door, ending the confrontation.
Character Development
Julia finally voices the guilt she has been carrying: her refusal to meet Gabe at Hotel Frank sealed her ignorance of his final words. Her emotional wall crumbles, exposing the terror of confronting a love that might have been real. Elizabeth moves from venomous sarcasm to weary exhaustion. She tries to help Julia face her grief, then abruptly withdraws, revealing her own pain and frustration with Gabe’s emotional unavailability. Her final outburst shows that she has spent too long trying to save someone who won’t help herself. Leora remains in the background, but her simple request ignites the conflict and underscores what the bracelet represents.
Themes, Symbols, and Motifs
- The bracelet: A tangible symbol of Gabe’s connection to his past—and to Julia—now contested between two women who loved him.
- Grief as a monster: Elizabeth rejects the sanitised “waves” metaphor, instead describing grief as something terrifying that must be entered, not observed from the shore.
- Emotional avoidance: Julia’s pattern of dodging pain mirrors the “emotionally stunted” behaviour Elizabeth recognises in Gabe, highlighting a destructive shared trait.
- Honesty and betrayal: The chapter forces secrets into the open, showing the cost of Julia’s silence and the illusions she built around Gabe’s choices.
Why This Chapter Matters
This scene is the novel’s emotional apex. The truth about the bracelet, the Joshua Tree weekend, and the missed meeting at Hotel Frank all collide. Elizabeth’s challenge strips away Julia’s defenses, making her finally articulate the guilt that has prevented her from mourning. The confrontation leaves Julia alone with the “monster” of grief, setting the stage for whatever reckoning comes next.
Study Questions
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Why does Julia immediately leave the table after Leora’s request? Julia realises that Leora wants to keep the bracelet because of its meaning to Gabe—and that meaning is tangled up with Julia. The sudden reminder of her secret connection to Gabe overwhelms her, and she flees before her composure shatters.
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What does Elizabeth mean by saying “grief is a monster” and that Julia must “step in the water”? Elizabeth corrects the cliché that grief “comes in waves.” She insists that before waves can even be felt, one must wade into the frightening depths. Julia has been avoiding that immersion, and Elizabeth tells her she cannot opt out.
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How does Elizabeth’s accusation that Julia is “so like Gabe” reshape our understanding of both characters? The comparison links Julia’s emotional avoidance directly to Gabe’s. It recasts Gabe’s behaviour not just as reckless, but as a deep inability to face hard feelings—a trait Julia now shares, explaining why their connection both thrived and fractured.