Chapter 4 Summary: The Headless Bride

⚠️ 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

In the weeks before Aster's June 1950 wedding, Belinda begins smelling phantom roses—a scent with no source. The chapter flashes back twenty years: when Belinda was pregnant with Aster, she experienced the same phantom smell, which grew so intense it made her vomit and drove her to bang her head against walls. A doctor tied her to the bed, and her husband began to doubt her sanity. Belinda learns her maternal lineage: her mother Rose died giving birth to her in 1900; Rose's mother Dollie died in 1873; Dollie's mother Alma died in 1857. Convinced she was dying from the pregnancy, Belinda attempted suicide by hanging in the woods, but survived.

Back in the present, Belinda warns that something terrible will happen to Aster. Iris and Zelie, taking the warning seriously, carry Aster's wedding china into the forest and bury it, then later return to smash the plates into shards. During the digging, Iris briefly envisions the headless bride lying in the hole.

The sisters tour Aster's new house at Grouse Court, a modern, empty home with plastic-wrapped furniture. Rosalind jokes about the wedding night, and Aster reveals she plans to cook for Matthew. The sisters hold a final picnic in the meadow—a