Chapter 2: The Favorite Game — Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways

Summary

Cassie returns to her Lower Manhattan apartment carrying Mr. Webber's copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, the book he gave her shortly before he died. She finds a space for it on the bookcase at the end of her bed, a shelf that holds books from her childhood, her travels through Europe, and her life in New York. The bookcase, the narrator notes, is a map of her life. Among the volumes she finds her own battered paperback of The Count of Monte Cristo, which originally belonged to her grandfather. Flipping through its pages, she catches a faint scent that brings back memories of reading in her grandfather's studio in Myrtle Creek as a child, surrounded by the smell of wood and oil while heavy rain beat against the ground outside.

She pulls off her sweater and catches her reflection in the mirror on the back of the door. She is disappointed by what she sees: too tall, too thin, narrow hips, a flat chest, wide startled eyes, and blond hair that never stays in place. She has never learned to wear makeup.

Her roommate Izzy calls out from the living area. Izzy has just returned from a work night out with colleagues from the jewelry department at Bloomingdale's. She describes being hit on by a large man who suggested they go to Times Square together, a suggestion she dismisses with a joke about tourists and terrorists. Cassie smiles, grateful for the distraction from her lingering sadness about Mr. Webber's death.

The narrative then provides background on Izzy. She moved to New York from Florida as a teenager with dreams of singing and acting on Broadway. After years of auditions and tiny theater performances, she gave up on that dream, explaining to Cassie once that the world always has a newer, younger supply of beautiful women and that she was not a good enough actress for her looks not to matter. She now works in the jewelry department at Bloomingdale's, a world of expensive products and rich customers that Cassie neither understands nor cares about, though Izzy loves her job.

Cassie and Izzy met when they both worked at Kellner Books and became friends almost immediately. When Cassie needed an apartment, Izzy suggested they find a place together. They have shared a third-floor two-bedroom walk-up in Lower Manhattan, on the edge of Little Italy, above a cheesecake shop and a dry cleaner's, ever since. The apartment is cold in winter and hot in summer, with oddly shaped rooms and furniture that never quite fits, but it works for them. Their schedules rarely overlap—Izzy works days, Cassie works late shifts and weekends—so they often go days without seeing each other, but the arrangement has preserved their friendship. When they do cross paths, Izzy gives a rapid rundown of her life and then asks Cassie, with a maternal expression, what is going on in her world.

Tonight, Cassie tells Izzy that Mr. Webber died that day in the bookstore. Izzy asks who he was, and Cassie explains that he was an old man who came into the store regularly for coffee and reading, someone she thinks was lonely and liked the bookstore. Izzy mentions that her uncle Michael died after a fall, but Cassie clarifies that Mr. Webber simply died sitting there, as if it were his time, which is what the police said too.

Izzy notices the leather notebook in Cassie's lap and asks about it. Cassie explains it was a gift from Mr. Webber. Izzy flips through it, observes that it looks like word soup from a crazy person, and wonders if it might be worth money. Cassie is annoyed by the question of monetary value; the gift was the point. Izzy teases that Mr. Webber might have been sweet on Cassie, which Cassie firmly denies.

To lift the mood, Izzy proposes the Favorite Game, a game they used to play at the bookstore when things were quiet, in which one person asks the other about a favorite something. Tonight she asks Cassie about her favorite day. Cassie briefly recalls the terrible Greyhound bus trip they took together to Florida, then turns her mind to happier memories. She thinks about her childhood days with her grandfather, but those memories are too precious to share. Instead she remembers the backpacking trip she took through Europe after her grandfather died, a journey she took partly to grieve and partly to figure out what to do with her life. She traveled from city to city, occasionally making friends—a German boy in Paris, a young Japanese couple in London, a pair of middle-aged Dutch women in Rome who seemed to think she needed protection. She promised to keep in touch with these people but never did; they were walk-on parts in her life.

Her favorite memory is Venice. She stayed in a hostel run by a middle-aged couple with young children who treated her like a daughter. The street was narrow and cobbled, lined with yellow and orange buildings with big wooden doors and shuttered windows. A bakery stood across the street, and she slept with the windows open because it was so warm. In the mornings she woke to the smell of baking bread and pastries, to the sound of locals talking and laughing, and to the coffee shop at the end of the street setting out tables and chairs. Every day she would run down the stairs, open the big wooden door, and find the bakery across the way with a queue of customers.

Izzy, sleepy, says she wants to go to Italy. Cassie, caught in her memory, decides to put the book away and make coffee so she won't fall asleep. As she reaches for the door to the hallway, she feels a shudder, a moment of oddness where the world seems to tense and release within her. And then she opens the door and finds herself gazing out onto that small, cobbled street in Venice, quiet and dark and glistening with rain.

Key Events

Cassie places Mr. Webber's copy of The Count of Monte Cristo on her bookshelf, which holds books from her childhood, her travels, and her New York life.
She catches her reflection in the mirror and feels dissatisfied with her appearance.
Izzy arrives home from a work night out and describes being hit on by a man who suggested going to Times Square.
Cassie tells Izzy that Mr. Webber died that day in the bookstore.
Izzy asks about the leather notebook and wonders if it might be worth money.
Izzy proposes the Favorite Game and asks Cassie about her best day.
Cassie recalls her backpacking trip through Europe after her grandfather's death, focusing on a hostel in Venice with a bakery across the street.
When Cassie opens the door to the hallway, she finds herself looking at that remembered cobbled street in Venice.

Character Development

Cassie. The chapter deepens our understanding of Cassie's inner life. She is grieving Mr. Webber's death, still processing the loss of her grandfather, and quietly dissatisfied with her own appearance. She keeps her most precious memories—those of her grandfather—private even from her closest friend, suggesting a guarded emotional core. Her attachment to objects (the bookcase, the books) reveals that she anchors her identity in the past. The Venice memory, which she shares openly, becomes the chapter's emotional center and, crucially, the site of the first magical event.

Izzy. Izzy emerges as a warm, pragmatic presence. She has given up on her acting dream but has found contentment in her job and her friendship with Cassie. Her instinct to comfort Cassie by proposing the Favorite Game shows her emotional intelligence. Her question about the notebook's monetary value and her teasing about Mr. Webber reveal a more worldly, playful side. The chapter also establishes her backstory—the abandoned Broadway dream—which adds a layer of quiet melancholy beneath her cheerful surface.

The friendship. The chapter establishes Cassie and Izzy's relationship as easy, natural, and life-changing, built on shared history (Kellner Books, the Greyhound trip) and mutual care. Their differing schedules and personalities complement each other, and Izzy's maternal concern for Cassie is evident throughout.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

Memory and nostalgia. The bookcase is explicitly described as a map of Cassie's life, holding books from each phase of her history. The scent of her grandfather's copy of The Count of Monte Cristo conjures powerful childhood memories, and the Venice memory becomes the chapter's emotional climax. Memory is presented as both a comfort and a burden.

The ordinary vs. the magical. The chapter is grounded in the mundane—a cold apartment, a work night out, a game played to pass the time—and then abruptly shifts into the extraordinary when the door opens onto Venice. The contrast is deliberate: magic intrudes on the everyday without warning.

Loss and grief. Mr. Webber's death, the grandfather's death, and Izzy's abandoned acting dream all circle the theme of loss. Each character carries a different kind of grief, and the chapter shows how they cope—Cassie through memory, Izzy through distraction and friendship.

Dreams and giving up. Izzy's story of giving up on Broadway is a quiet counterpoint to Cassie's more open-ended search for direction. The chapter suggests that dreams can be surrendered without destroying a person.

Commercial vs. literary worlds. Izzy's world of Bloomingdale's and expensive products contrasts with Cassie's world of bookstores and worn paperbacks. Izzy's first question about the notebook is whether it is worth money; Cassie's concern is the gift itself.

Self-perception and identity. Cassie's dissatisfaction with her reflection introduces a thread of self-criticism that will likely inform her character arc.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter introduces the novel's central magical premise: a door that opens not to another room but to a remembered place. The moment is prepared carefully—Cassie is absorbed in her Venice memory, the world seems to tense and release, and then the ordinary door reveals something impossible. The chapter also establishes the friendship between Cassie and Izzy, which will anchor the story's emotional life, and sets up the leather notebook as an object of significance. The Venice memory, which Cassie describes as her favorite day, becomes the first doorway, suggesting that the book of doors may be connected to memory, desire, and the places we carry inside us.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What does the bookcase reveal about Cassie's life and values, and how does it connect to the chapter's themes?

The bookcase is described as a map of Cassie's life, holding books from her childhood, her travels through Europe, and her New York years. It reveals that she values memory and the past, and that she keeps physical objects as anchors to her history. Her grandfather's copy of The Count of Monte Cristo is particularly significant—it connects her to her childhood in Myrtle Creek and to the man who raised her. The fact that she places Mr. Webber's copy alongside her own suggests she is beginning to integrate this new loss into her existing map of life. The bookcase also contrasts with Izzy's more pragmatic worldview, which is concerned with monetary value, and reinforces the chapter's themes of memory, nostalgia, and the ordinary vs. the magical.

2. How does the Favorite Game function in this chapter, and what does it reveal about Cassie and Izzy's friendship?

The Favorite Game is a way for the two friends to pass time and connect through shared stories. It reveals that their friendship is built on easy conversation and mutual care. Izzy uses it to lift Cassie's mood after the news of Mr. Webber's death, showing her instinct to comfort. Cassie's choice of the Venice memory—rather than her childhood memories with her grandfather, which she deems too precious to share—shows that she is selective about what she reveals, even to her closest friend. The game also sets up the magical moment: the memory Cassie chooses to share becomes the doorway she walks through.

3. What is the significance of the door opening to Venice at the end of the chapter, and how does the chapter prepare the reader for this moment?

The door opening to Venice is the chapter's central magical event. It transforms a mundane action—opening a door to the hallway—into something extraordinary. The chapter prepares the reader by establishing Cassie's deep connection to this memory, by showing her absorbed in it, and by describing the shudder or moment of oddness she feels before opening the door. The fact that the door leads to a remembered place, not a real one, suggests that the book of doors may be connected to memory and desire. It also raises questions: Is this real? Is Cassie dreaming? What does the book have to do with it? The moment marks the point where the novel's fantasy element breaks into the realistic world of the story.