Chapter 35 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

Sidney and Fela arrive in Orange Beach, Alabama, a town Sidney has long idealized in her imagination. She had pictured a place of summer warmth, chlorine pools, and peaceful, edgeless hope—a kind of climax to her journey. The reality disappoints her: the town feels listless and unremarkable, a pale imitation of the Oshkosh summers she dreamed about. Fela explains that white is not a race but an idea, and that his sister Nona created Orange Beach as a refuge for white people who rejected the changes happening in Mobile. The town is populated by people of many skin tones who cling to whiteness as an identity.

They hear gospel music and follow it to a church revival on the beach. Inside a large tent, a preacher delivers a sermon while his wife stands on stage—revealed to be Agnes, Sidney's aunt. Agnes recognizes Sidney and brings her onto the stage, embracing her tearfully. The preacher delivers a long, forgettable sermon while Sidney sits hand in hand with Agnes, remembering the last time she saw her aunt at a Red Lobster before the catastrophe.

After the sermon, the preacher makes a call to salvation. People dressed in white gather at the base of the stage—Sidney recognizes them as the same kind of