Chapter 32 Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways

⚠️ 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

After three days of relentless rain, Daphne arrives at Clio's room early Friday morning with donuts made by Daisy, her current girlfriend. Clio has spent the week locked in her room, sleeping excessively, skipping meals, and avoiding her phone and social media since her Instagram stories. The sisters immediately clash. Daphne is angry at Clio for tearing open an old wound by attending their mother's funeral, visiting the house, and reading her book. Clio counters that their mother's death is the wound itself. Daphne reveals their father thinks Clio is having a nervous breakdown, then calls Clio a harsh name. Clio laughs at this, which sends Daphne storming out; Clio hears her sister crying in the next room and recognizes the damage she is causing feels startlingly familiar—like home.

Leda and Tommy arrive early afternoon. The family therapy appointment is at four p.m. Clio sets an alarm for 3:15 but sleeps through it; her father wakes her. She dresses in old jeans and a T-shirt that hang off her frame, evidence of recent weight loss. Daphne and Amy ride with Leda and Tom; Dad drives Clio alone. The drive is silent. Clio texts Roy, who has arrived at the house, and tells him she will be back in a few hours; she plans to take the train back to the city that night for an early job the next morning. Dad's knuckles go white on the steering wheel.

They arrive at a maze-like office plaza where every building looks identical. Clio immediately recognizes the smell and asks if her father has been here before. He does not answer, but his confident navigation tells her he has—raising her fear that he has already met with the therapist and convinced her Clio is unstable. In the waiting room, Leda, Tommy, Daphne, and Amy sit among taupe decor and too many ferns. Dad asks about paperwork Clio never filled out.

The therapist, Maya, introduces herself—a woman in her fifties with gray-streaked dark hair, wearing a pinstripe blazer and leather boots. Clio notes her fashion sense and decides she trusts her more because of it. Maya explains her credentials (twenty years as a family therapist, twelve owning her practice) and her approach: she facilitates discussion, keeps everything confidential, and aims to make the space comfortable for uncomfortable conversations. She asks for verbal consent from each family member.

The session begins. Dad says their mother, Alexandra, passed in April and that it has been difficult—for his youngest, Clio. Clio immediately challenges this framing. When Maya asks why she is there, Clio delivers her bombshell: she is there because her own father wants to have her committed for grieving their mother, citing Google searches for psychiatric holds in New Jersey on his computer. Dad counters that Clio is talking about demons, comparing her to Alexandra—who saw things that were not there, became aggressive, and struggled with substance abuse. Clio turns on tears, claiming she is just trying to understand her mother and the house's memories. Daphne and Leda accuse her of faking and manipulating. Leda says Clio makes everything about herself just like Alexandra did, and describes how the family chose to cut Alexandra out of their lives—a clean cut that was mutual.

Maya gently pushes back, wondering whether that history of severing a significant relationship has residual effects, and whether Alexandra's passing exacerbated sensitivity around it. Leda insists she and Daphne have already worked through their issues and that they suffered more because they were older. Maya cautions against comparing suffering, noting that siblings can grow up under the same roof and have radically different childhoods. Daphne agrees with Leda, saying Clio was never bothered by anything long term and was not affected the same. Clio's phone rings—Roy calling—and she silences it. Maya asks Daphne why she is there; Daphne breaks down in real tears, saying she does not know anymore. Maya turns to Leda as the chapter ends.

Key Events

Daphne visits Clio with donuts; the sisters argue about Clio digging up the past
Daphne insults Clio; Clio laughs; Daphne storms out crying
Leda and Tommy arrive; the family drives to the therapy appointment
Clio texts Roy, who has arrived at the house; she plans to take the train back that night
Clio realizes her father has been to the therapist's office before
Maya begins the family therapy session; Dad frames Clio's grief as the problem
Clio accuses her father of wanting her committed, citing his Google searches
Dad compares Clio to their mother Alexandra, mentioning demons and substance abuse
Leda and Daphne accuse Clio of faking and manipulating
Maya cautions against comparing suffering
Clio silences a call from Roy
Daphne breaks down crying when asked why she is there

Character Development

Clio: This chapter shows Clio at her most isolated and self-destructive. She has been sleeping for days, not eating, and avoiding her phone and social media. Her decision to weaponize the therapy session—claiming her father wants her committed—shows her need for control, even at the cost of further alienating her family. Her internal monologue reveals she knows she is making things worse but cannot stop, and she recognizes the damage feels like home.

Daphne: Daphne's visit is an attempt at reconciliation, but it quickly devolves. Her accusation that Clio is tearing open an old wound shows she wants the past buried. Her breakdown at the end—real tears, admitting she does not know why she is there—suggests her anger masks deeper unresolved grief.

Leda: Leda is the most openly hostile, accusing Clio of faking and manipulating, and comparing her to Alexandra. Her insistence that she and Daphne suffered more reveals a competitive grief that Maya directly challenges.

James (Dad): He is nervous and tense throughout, and his confident navigation of the office suggests he has been preparing for this session. His comparison of Clio to Alexandra—mentioning demons and substance abuse—shows his fear that history is repeating itself.

Maya: The therapist is a stabilizing presence. She validates laughter, cautions against comparing suffering, and gently redirects the family's hostility. Her observation about siblings having radically different childhoods under the same roof is a key intervention.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Family therapy as confrontation: The session forces the family's unspoken tensions into the open. Each member's version of the truth collides, and Maya's role as facilitator highlights how the family has avoided direct communication.

Comparing suffering: Maya explicitly cautions against this, but Leda and Daphne both insist they suffered more because they were older. This competition over grief is a central conflict.

Manipulation and control: Clio admits internally that she wants to say the thing she should not say because it is the only way she can be in control. Her tears are strategic; her accusation about the psychiatric hold is a power play.

Maternal legacy: Alexandra looms over the session. Dad fears Clio is becoming her; Leda accuses Clio of making everything about herself just like Alexandra did. The mother's absence is the wound everyone is circling.

Laughter as coping: Clio laughs when Daphne insults her, and again in the session. Maya validates this—laughter can be the best medicine—but it also reads as a defense mechanism.

Severed relationships: Leda describes the clean cut of cutting Alexandra out of their lives. Maya wonders if that history of severance has residual effects, connecting the family's past pattern to their present dysfunction.

Isolation: Clio's week of self-imposed isolation in her room mirrors the family's broader pattern of cutting people off.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the first time the entire family is in one room confronting their shared history. The therapy session brings the central conflict into focus: Clio's belief that her father wants her committed versus the family's fear that she is repeating their mother's trajectory. Maya's interventions—particularly her caution against comparing suffering and her observation about radically different childhoods—offer the first outside perspective on the family's dynamics. The chapter also deepens Clio's characterization, showing her self-awareness about her own destructive behavior even as she continues it. The cliffhanger ending, with Daphne's breakdown and Maya turning to Leda, sets up the next phase of the session.

Study Questions

1. Why does Clio choose to accuse her father of wanting her committed during the therapy session, and what does this reveal about her character?

Clio's internal monologue shows she deliberately chooses to say the thing she should not say because it is the only way she can feel in control. She is aware of the chaos it will cause but does it anyway. This reveals her need for control in a situation where she feels cornered, and her willingness to sacrifice family harmony for that control. It also shows her self-destructive pattern—she knows she is making things worse but cannot stop.

2. How does Maya challenge the family's narrative about grief and suffering?

Maya cautions against comparing suffering, telling the family it is impossible to know what others feel, even those closest to us. When Leda insists she and Daphne suffered more because they were older, Maya counters that siblings can grow up under the same roof and have radically different childhoods, and those experiences can manifest differently throughout their lives. This challenges the family's hierarchy of grief and opens space for Clio's experience to be taken seriously.

3. What does the chapter suggest about the family's pattern of severing relationships?

Leda describes cutting Alexandra out of their lives as a clean cut that was mutual. Maya wonders whether that history of severance has residual effects, and whether Alexandra's passing exacerbated sensitivity around it. Clio's isolation in her room, the sisters' estrangement from each other, and the family's inability to communicate all suggest this pattern of cutting people off is repeating itself. The chapter implies the family's coping mechanism of severance is being tested by Alexandra's death.