Summaries Olga Dies Dreaming Xóchitl González

Chapter 35: The Rolls – 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 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where a group of bridesmaids in coordinated turquoise dresses climbs out of a white Escalade stretch limousine. Olga hangs back, scanning Fifth Avenue for the classic white Rolls-Royce that is meant to bring the bride, Mabel, and her parents. The drive from the family house on Fifty-third Street is short, yet Olga holds her breath until the vehicle finally appears.

The Rolls belongs to Tío Richie, who runs side hustles renting vintage cars for weddings and film shoots. He made a show of loaning it to Mabel as her wedding present, though Olga privately considers this a cheap gift. The trouble begins when the driver, who has no working cell phone and has never driven in Brooklyn, shows up late to collect Tío JoJo. When JoJo calls Mabel to say he is running behind, Tía ChaCha seizes the chance to criticize Richie, calling it typical half-hearted behavior and suggesting Mabel should have paid for the car herself. Mabel fires back, asking what ChaCha knows about paying for weddings when she only went to City Hall. ChaCha then implies Mabel would be less stressed if Julio carried more of the weight and she did not feel the need to be so extra.

Olga notices the familiar warning sign: Mabel begins to sweat across the bridge of her nose and around her temples, the way she always does before she cries. To prevent her cousin from ruining her makeup, Olga intervenes, suggesting ChaCha walk the programs over to the church. As ChaCha leaves, Mabel calls Olga over and thanks her, meaning it for more than just defusing the argument. The two share a quiet moment in the mirror, and Olga realizes Mabel pulled the cash for hair and makeup from Olga's bank envelope, a fact they never discuss aloud. Olga feels a closeness with her cousin she has not felt since they were girls, before the family and society sorted them into different roles—one clever, one coarse; one pretty, one told to stay out of the sun. She senses Abuelita's warmth on them and wants the moment to last, but Mabel's forehead beads with sweat again, and Olga teases her about ruining her face.

The family is on edge. Both ChaCha and Mabel's mother still have relatives in Puerto Rico living without power after Hurricane Irma, and an hour before JoJo's call, everyone's phones buzzed with alerts about a new storm, Hurricane Maria, heading toward the island again. ChaCha tries unsuccessfully to reach her mother in Ponce, while Mabel's mother kneels to pray. Olga, reassured by Reggie that her own mother is safer than most people on the island, is spared that particular worry. Instead, her mind is on Matteo. She does not know how to make up with a man; she never had to work at reconciling with Reggie or Dick, because they always came around eventually. This time she is unsure. She sent Matteo the ceremony details and got only a brief acknowledgment. In a panic she sent a dozen roses, which earned a terse thanks. She left long voicemails asking for a second chance and heard nothing back. She cannot tell whether he is making her sweat as payback or has simply decided she is not worth the trouble.

Mabel's morning is burdened by more material concerns. She repeatedly checks a bank envelope thick with cash, mentally recalculating. Tía Lola tells her to stop worrying, that it will ruin the pictures, and reminds her she can dip into the gift envelopes if needed. This settles her. Mabel stands, downs a mimosa, and declares herself ready to get married.

In the limo, the other bridesmaids—cousins and coworkers from Con Edison—snap selfies and post to Instagram. Olga, with her niece on her lap, reflects that this is another family milestone her own mother will miss. She wonders whether her own wedding or a baby would be enough to bring her mother home, then remembers that Prieto, her mother's favorite, lived through these moments without her. The question answers itself, yet a small part of Olga still anxiously wonders when her mother might reach out.

When Mabel's limousine finally arrives, Olga helps her tío and tía out, then assists Mabel, who emerges in a strapless princess gown. Olga carries the detachable train up the stairs, fluffs it against the marble floor of the vestibule, pulls the veil over Mabel's face, and tells her she looks beautiful. Then Olga adjusts her own ill-fitting turquoise dress—she never got it altered—and heads down the aisle. There she spots Matteo in an aisle seat on the bride's side, handsome in a black suit that fits him perfectly, freshly shaved with a clean shape-up. The sight electrifies her with relief and joy. For the first time in a long while she is excited: to dance with him, to introduce him to people, to gossip about who is drinking too much. He spots her and, improbably, pulls out an old-school disposable camera. She grins widely in his direction, and the flash goes off.

Key Events

  • The bridesmaids arrive at the cathedral while Olga anxiously waits for the Rolls-Royce carrying Mabel and her parents.
  • Tío Richie's loaned Rolls is delayed because the driver is unfamiliar with Brooklyn and late to pick up Tío JoJo.
  • ChaCha criticizes Richie, triggering a heated argument with Mabel about money and effort.
  • Olga defuses the fight by sending ChaCha to the church with the programs, and Mabel privately thanks her.
  • The family absorbs the double blow of Hurricane Irma's aftermath and the approach of Hurricane Maria, with relatives in Puerto Rico still without power.
  • Olga wrestles with anxiety over Matteo, who has given only minimal responses to her messages, roses, and voicemails.
  • Mabel repeatedly checks her cash envelope until Tía Lola reassures her, and Mabel declares herself ready.
  • In the limo, Olga reflects on her mother's absence from family milestones, recalling that even Prieto went without her.
  • Olga helps Mabel with her train and veil at the church, then walks down the aisle.
  • Olga spots Matteo in the congregation; he photographs her with a disposable camera.

Character Development

Olga shows a softer, more vulnerable side here. Her usual pattern with Reggie and Dick was to wait for them to come around; with Matteo, she actively reaches out—sending details, roses, and voicemails—and is forced to sit with uncertainty. Her care for Mabel is concrete: she intervenes to stop the fight, carries the train, and adjusts the veil, all while privately acknowledging the class divisions that once separated the cousins. Her reflection on her mother's absence, prompted by Prieto's experience, shows her still holding a small, irrational hope for maternal attention despite knowing better.

Mabel is revealed as someone carrying heavy financial strain on her wedding day, repeatedly checking her cash envelope and needing reassurance. Her gratitude toward Olga is genuine and layered, acknowledging more than the immediate rescue from ChaCha. Her sweating-before-crying habit humanizes her and shows how close she is to breaking under pressure.

Tía ChaCha is sharp-tongued and quick to criticize, but her anger stems from real worry—her mother in Ponce is unreachable, and the storms have compounded everyone's stress. Her conflict with Mabel exposes long-standing resentments about money and effort within the family.

Matteo, though present only briefly, signals a turning point. His arrival in a well-fitted black suit, freshly groomed, and his playful use of a disposable camera suggest he has chosen to show up and offer the second chance Olga hoped for.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Class divisions and financial strain: The Rolls-Royce, loaned rather than gifted outright, becomes a symbol of the family's complicated relationship with money. Mabel's cash envelope and her anxiety about covering hair and makeup underscore how weddings expose economic pressures. The argument between ChaCha and Mabel is really about who has the right to judge how others spend or save.
  • Maternal absence: Olga's limo reflection—wondering whether her own wedding or child would bring her mother home, then recalling that even Prieto went without her—deepens the novel's exploration of a mother who is present in reputation but absent in practice.
  • Hurricane anxiety as collective trauma: The news of Hurricane Maria arriving on the heels of Irma keeps the family emotionally raw, connecting their personal wedding-day stress to a larger communal worry about loved ones in Puerto Rico.
  • Second chances: Matteo's appearance and the disposable camera—a deliberately old-fashioned, playful gesture—suggest a willingness to start over, mirroring Olga's own hope for reconciliation.
  • The mirror moment: Olga and Mabel's exchange in the mirror, with Abuelita's warmth felt between them, symbolizes a reconnection across the roles society assigned them as girls.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 35 is a hinge point in the novel. It brings the wedding day to its emotional peak while threading together several of the book's central concerns: the cost of family loyalty, the weight of absent parents, and the possibility of repair. The reconciliation between Olga and Mabel—quiet, unspoken, built on a shared understanding of the money and the fight—shows Olga choosing to be present for family in a way her own mother never was. At the same time, the chapter leaves Olga's relationship with Matteo unresolved until the final moment, when his presence and the flash of the camera offer a hopeful turn. The hurricane alerts keep the larger world pressing in, reminding readers that personal joy and communal grief can coexist. This chapter also sets up the emotional stakes for the rest of the wedding and whatever follows it.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Olga intervene in the argument between ChaCha and Mabel, and what does her intervention reveal about her? Olga steps in because she recognizes Mabel's physical warning sign—sweating across the nose and temples—and knows tears are coming. By sending ChaCha to the church with the programs, she removes the source of conflict without taking sides publicly. This reveals Olga's practical empathy and her willingness to manage family dynamics, a role she has likely played before. It also shows she understands Mabel's fragility on this high-stakes day.

2. How does the Rolls-Royce function as a symbol in this chapter? The Rolls is loaned, not given, and it arrives late because of an unreliable driver. It represents the gap between the appearance of generosity and the reality of cost-cutting within the family. Olga privately judges it a cheap gift, and the argument it triggers exposes deeper resentments about who pays for what and who gets to judge. The car is also a marker of class aspiration—a vintage luxury vehicle at a wedding that is otherwise financially strained.

3. What does Olga's reflection in the limo reveal about her relationship with her mother? Olga realizes that her mother has missed milestones for Prieto, her favorite child, and therefore would likely miss Olga's own as well. This answers her anxious question about whether a wedding or a baby would bring her mother home. Yet even with this awareness, a small part of her still hopes for contact. The reflection shows Olga caught between clear-eyed recognition of her mother's neglect and a lingering, irrational wish for maternal attention.

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