Chapter summaries Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt

Chapter 43: Some Trees – Summary and Analysis

Spoiler Notice: This chapter contains significant plot developments. If you have not finished the novel, proceed with caution.

Summary

Tova Sullivan climbs into her attic to begin sorting decades of family possessions into three categories: items to take to Charter Village (her future retirement home), donations, and trash. The towering piles remind her of her late husband Will’s habit of stacking clutter rather than discarding it. As she works, she reflects on the family tree that stopped growing after Erik’s death. Her cat, Cat, joins her for a nap. Tova finds her mother’s embroidered pillowcases, a set of Dala horses, and a linen apron that triggers memories of the unnamed girl Erik was seeing before he died. She forces herself to stop dwelling on the girl, reasoning that Erik never mentioned her. Later, she goes to the Shop-Way grocery store to escape her own cooking. There she encounters Sandy Hewitt, Adam Wright’s girlfriend, who apologizes for Adam’s drunken behavior at the luncheon. Sandy reveals that Adam remembered the name of Erik’s girlfriend: Daphne. Tova, stunned, hears Ethan Mack echo the name and quickly leaves, abandoning her groceries on the counter. She rushes upstairs to retrieve Erik’s high school yearbook and finds one listing: Daphne A. Cassmore, pages 14, 63, and 148.

Key Events

  • Tova sorts attic items into three piles: keep for retirement, donate, and trash.
  • She reflects on Will’s tendency to create piles and her own compulsion to organize.
  • Tova considers the Dala horses, initially placing them in donation, then moving them to the keep pile.
  • At the grocery store, Sandy Hewitt approaches Tova and reveals that Adam remembered the name of Erik’s girlfriend: Daphne.
  • Ethan Mack, overhearing, repeats the name, causing Tova to cut the conversation short.
  • Tova leaves her groceries and rushes home to find the Sowell Bay High School yearbook, where she discovers Daphne A. Cassmore listed in the index.

Character Development

  • Tova Sullivan: The attic sorting exposes Tova’s need for control and order in the face of overwhelming grief. Her decision to keep the Dala horses shows a reluctant attachment to the past. The revelation of Daphne’s name shatters her composure, leading her to abandon routine tasks and act on a long-suppressed curiosity.

  • Sandy Hewitt: Sandy emerges as a well-meaning newcomer who, despite her discomfort, chooses to share information she believes Tova deserves to know. Her apology for Adam’s behavior hints at the strain the move has placed on their relationship.

  • Ethan Mack: His immediate recognition of the name “Daphne” and his pointed questioning of Tova suggest he knows more about Erik’s past than he has previously revealed, deepening his role as a potential ally or informant.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Family Tree Metaphor: The image of a tree with “rotting trunk” and no new branches powerfully conveys Tova’s sense of loss and finality. The family line has ended; she sees herself as a stoic tree slowly decaying on the forest floor.

  • The Attic and Its Contents: The three piles (keep, donate, trash) symbolize Tova’s internal negotiation with memory. The Dala horses, the apron, and the yearbook each represent aspects of her son’s life that she cannot fully release or discard.

  • Cherries and Seasons: The Rainier cherries that Tova buys and then abandons evoke the fleeting nature of life and the missed opportunities of a short season—much like the relationship Erik had with Daphne, which Tova never knew about until it was too late.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 43 delivers a crucial turning point: the first concrete name connected to Erik’s secret girlfriend. For thirty years, Tova has only known of “the girl” as an abstract figure. Now “Daphne Cassmore” gives her a tangible lead, setting the stage for Tova to actively investigate her son’s past. The chapter also deepens the themes of hidden histories and the persistence of grief, as Tova’s orderly world is disrupted by a single piece of information.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Tova move the Dala horses from the donation pile to the keep pile?
    She realizes that if she leaves them for donation, they will eventually be discarded by someone else at Charter Village. By keeping them, she acknowledges that no heir remains to want them, yet she still cannot bear to let go of these tangible links to Erik.

  2. What does the family tree metaphor reveal about Tova’s emotional state?
    Tova views herself and her family line as a dead, decaying tree with no future growth. This image encapsulates her resignation, loneliness, and acceptance that the Sullivan family will not continue—a direct reflection of her grief over Erik’s death.

  3. How does Ethan Mack’s reaction to the name “Daphne” advance the plot?
    Ethan’s immediate recognition of the name and his pointed question—“She said Daphne, didn’t she?”—suggests he has prior knowledge of the situation. This foreshadows that Ethan may become a source of information or a complicating factor in Tova’s search for the truth about her son’s lost love.

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