Chapter 7 Summary, Key Events, 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 remembrance celebration for Clio's mother. Clio finds Tommy getting a tarot reading from a group of women and observes for a few minutes before growing bored. Left alone—Aunt Helen has gone to the bathroom and Tommy is occupied—Clio slips into the kitchen, where a makeshift bar has been set up. She pours herself a whiskey and cola, noting it's warm and flat but exactly what she needs, and drinks it quickly before pouring another.

While lingering in the empty kitchen, Clio skims flyers for paranormal conventions and psychic fairs. One in Milwaukee reminds her of Sarah, a friend from her high school dance team. Sarah moved to Chicago for Northwestern, then to Milwaukee, where she bought a fixer-upper and renovated it herself, documenting the process on Instagram and gaining thirty-five thousand followers. Clio reflects on this with a mix of admiration and competitive awareness of her own larger following.

Roy finds Clio in the kitchen and invites her to the circle of remembrance. He hands her a small satin pouch, telling her she can open it later, and offers his support to Clio and her sisters. Clio accepts the pouch but privately doubts she'll ever see Roy again, reflecting on her mother's warning about men who try hardest to convince you they're good.

Roy leads Clio into a room where chairs are arranged in a circle around a small table holding an urn. Clio pretends the urn is empty. Tommy joins her, whispering about his tarot reading—he got a something-of-Cups, the Fool, and the Hanged Man, which the women said was about perspective. Mariella enters and begins lighting candles while monologuing about death, but Clio can't pay attention. Her mind drifts to Sarah, to the house at Edgewood, to memories of Leda and Daphne whispering secrets upstairs that she could never quite hear.

When it's Clio's turn to share a memory, she tells the story of the year her mother botched Daphne's boxed birthday cake so badly that the family ended up at McDonald's for apple pies and McFlurries. On the drive home, a sugar-high Clio sang and danced in the back seat, licking Daphne when asked to sit still. Their mother slammed on the brakes after nearly running a red light, then launched into a tirade about how the girls would become chubby and get bullied, asking if they wanted to know how their father felt about chubby girls. Clio now suspects her mother was drunk that night. She hasn't had a McFlurry since.

The story lands poorly. The room goes quiet, and Clio realizes she's become the center of uncomfortable attention. She tries to recover by toasting her mother and praising her hair, but the moment has already soured.

Clio and Tommy stay until the end of the circle, which drags on with stories about a version of their mother Clio never knew. They say goodbye to Aunt Helen, who tells Clio that grief is a strange animal. Aunt Helen says she'll take the ashes unless Clio wants them; Clio declines, saying she wouldn't know what to do with them.

Outside, Clio has Tommy photograph her on the sidewalk—the outfit is too good to waste, and no one outside her family will know the occasion. She scrolls through the photos and compliments Tommy's work. He tells her it was nice to hear the stories about her mom, noting that he wept during the circle. Clio shrugs, dismissing them as just stories.

In the car, Tommy tells Clio he's married to her sister and has years of practice reading hard-to-read Barnes women. He tells her it's okay not to be okay. Clio insists she's fine, claiming she's genuinely unemotional rather than repressed like Leda. Tommy counters that she has emotions but chooses not to feel them. Clio eventually admits she cried upstairs with Aunt Helen.

Clio asks Tommy about the house, about Edgewood. He deflects, saying it's a conversation for her and Leda. She presses, but he holds firm, noting that Leda is his wife.

About an hour into the drive, they stop at a Burger King—notably not a McDonald's—and eat in the car. Clio asks how bad her remembrance circle story was. Tommy admits he already knew the story because Leda told him. He tells Clio he's proud of her for showing up and speaking her truth, which she finds worse than being told she messed up.

Then Tommy reveals the key information: Leda didn't know about Edgewood. She had no idea their mother kept the house all these years until Aunt Helen called about the death. Leda is upset about it—she doesn't want anything to do with the house, doesn't want to go there, doesn't want to transfer the deed. Tommy assumes it will be a pain to sell.

Clio, with visions of before-and-after renovation photos and Airbnb income, offers to handle the house herself.

Key Events

Tommy gets a tarot reading at the remembrance celebration
Clio drinks whiskey alone in the kitchen and reflects on her friend Sarah's renovation success
Roy invites Clio to the circle of remembrance and gives her a satin pouch
Clio shares the McDonald's birthday cake story, which is poorly received
Clio and Tommy say goodbye to Aunt Helen, who takes the ashes
Tommy photographs Clio outside the venue
Tommy tells Clio it's okay not to be okay during the drive back
At Burger King, Tommy reveals Leda didn't know their mother kept Edgewood
Clio offers to handle the house herself

Character Development

Clio continues to perform emotional distance while revealing cracks in her armor. She drinks to cope, dismisses the remembrance stories as just stories, and admits to crying only under pressure from Tommy. Her offer to handle the house marks a shift—she moves from passive grief to active engagement, though her motivations are tangled with visions of social media content and profit.

Tommy emerges as a steady, caring presence. He weeps during the circle, tells Clio it's okay not to be okay, and gently pushes her to acknowledge her emotions. His loyalty to Leda creates tension, but he ultimately shares the truth about Leda's ignorance of the house.

Roy appears briefly as a supportive figure, offering the satin pouch and his condolences, but Clio's cynical read on him—that he'll move on quickly—reflects her broader distrust of men.

Aunt Helen shows understanding and takes the ashes, relieving Clio of that burden.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Grief and remembrance: The circle of remembrance is the chapter's centerpiece, and the contrast between the polished stories others share and Clio's messy, honest memory highlights the gap between public grief and private experience.

Unreliable memory: Clio's McDonald's story is raw and specific, but it clashes with the room's expectations. The chapter suggests that memory is selective and that families hold competing versions of the same person.

Maternal criticism and body image: The mother's tirade about chubby girls reveals the lasting damage of her words—Clio hasn't had a McFlurry since.

Alcohol as coping: Clio's whiskey drinking at the funeral is a clear coping mechanism, and she later realizes it's why she ended up drunk at her mother's funeral.

Social media performance: Sarah's renovation content and Clio's own Instagram following frame the house as both a personal inheritance and a potential content opportunity.

Renovation as reinvention: Clio's vision for the house—overalls, paint roller, before-and-after photos, Airbnb income—represents a fantasy of transforming something broken into something profitable and beautiful.

Sibling distance: Leda's ignorance of the house underscores how little the sisters know about each other's lives and their mother's.

Men's untrustworthiness: Clio's internal monologue about Roy and her mother's warning about men who try too hard to seem good reinforce her cynical worldview.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter delivers crucial plot information: Leda didn't know their mother kept Edgewood, and Clio volunteers to handle the house. This sets up the central conflict and the renovation plot that will likely drive the rest of the novel. It also deepens our understanding of Clio's emotional landscape—her grief, her coping mechanisms, and her complicated relationship with her mother's memory. The McDonald's story is a pivotal moment that reveals the family's dysfunction and Clio's inability to perform grief in a socially acceptable way.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Clio's McDonald's story fall flat at the remembrance circle?

The story is honest and specific, but it doesn't match the tone of the other remembrances. Others share warm, polished memories (like the lemon bars), while Clio's story exposes family dysfunction, maternal anger, and a possible drinking problem. The room's silence reflects discomfort with this unvarnished version of the deceased.

2. What does the revelation that Leda didn't know about Edgewood reveal about the family?

It shows how little the sisters knew about their mother's life after the estrangement. Leda, the oldest and most responsible, assumed she'd be the one to handle the house, but she was kept in the dark about its existence. This underscores the family's pattern of secrecy and avoidance.

3. How does Clio's offer to handle the house reflect her character?

Clio's offer is partly practical—she sees an opportunity for profit and content—but it also represents a step toward engagement with her family's legacy. She's been emotionally distant throughout the chapter, but volunteering to take on the house suggests a willingness to confront the past, even if her motivations are mixed with self-interest.