Chapter 22 Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ 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

Chapter 22 is a single, tightly focused scene: Julia, now a parent herself, decides to call her estranged mother, Anita. The impulse, the narrator explains, comes from a kind of retroactive sympathy — the understanding you can only gain once you've had children of your own and realize how badly your kids can make you feel, whether they intend to or not. Julia also wonders whether Ben has been right all along, whether she has misjudged her mother and spent years worrying about the wrong things.

She keeps the call a secret from Mark, waiting until Friday — her day off — while walking her dog, Suzanne. As the phone rings, she realizes she can't remember the last time she actually called Anita. A young woman named Lydia answers; Anita is at work, and it's one in the afternoon. Julia is surprised — her mother used to work the early shift.

When Anita gets on the line, Julia delivers the news: Ben is getting married the following month because he and his girlfriend are having a baby. Anita, surprised, asks if Ben is eighteen; Julia corrects her — he's twenty-four. Julia extends the wedding invitation, noting it's the third weekend in May, about six weeks away. Anita declines flatly, saying she's working.

Julia offers to help with logistics, mentioning Mark's airline miles. Anita takes immediate offense, insisting she's not destitute and has never once asked for money. She accuses Julia of assuming anyone who doesn't live like her must be in the poorhouse. Julia tries to clarify that she only meant it as a nice gesture, but Anita cuts her off, saying she can't come because she's working — not everyone can just take off whenever they want.

Anita then admits she's blowing the whole thing out of proportion, and Julia agrees — a rare moment of blunt honesty between them. Anita thanks Julia for the offer but says she won't be accepting. Julia presses, saying it would mean a lot to Ben, that he really likes her. Anita counters that Ben barely knows her. Julia makes a dry joke — maybe that's why he likes her — and Anita laughs, but then says, with unfamiliar sadness, that coming just isn't a good idea.

Before hanging up, Anita asks if Julia is doing okay. Julia says she's fine, though internally she admits she feels obsolete — her kids don't need her anymore, her life feels like it might be unraveling, and at fifty-seven she thinks she might actually need a mom. Anita says she's fine too. She asks Julia to tell Ben congratulations, and when Julia suggests Anita could tell him herself, Anita demurs, asking Julia to pass it along for now.

The chapter ends with Julia glad to be walking, because she's worried about how it would feel to hang up and still be standing in the same place.

Key Events

Julia decides to call Anita, motivated by retroactive parental sympathy and a growing suspicion that she has misjudged her mother.
She makes the call secretly on her day off, while walking her dog Suzanne.
A coworker named Lydia answers; Anita is at work, a shift change that surprises Julia.
Julia announces Ben's impending wedding and impending fatherhood.
Anita declines the wedding invitation, citing work.
Julia's offer of logistical help — including Mark's airline miles — is rejected with indignation.
Anita admits she's blowing things out of proportion, then says coming isn't a good idea.
Anita asks if Julia is okay; Julia lies and says she is.
Anita asks Julia to relay congratulations to Ben, declining to contact him directly.
The chapter closes with Julia's relief at being in motion, not standing still.

Character Development

Julia — This chapter shows Julia at her most vulnerable and self-aware. She initiates contact with her mother for the first time in what appears to be years, and she does so without telling Mark, suggesting both shame and a fragile hope. Her internal monologue reveals a woman grappling with obsolescence: her children don't need her, her life feels like it's unraveling, and she admits — to herself, at least — that she might need her mother. The retroactive sympathy she feels marks a genuine maturation: she now understands, from the parent's side, how painful children can be without meaning to.

Anita — Though we only hear her voice, Anita emerges as proud, prickly, and deeply independent. She bristles at any implication of need, insisting she's never asked for money and doesn't live like Julia does. Her refusal of the wedding invitation is framed as a work conflict, but her admission that it's