Chapter 37: Catherine — 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

On day 295 in London, Catherine remains confined to her home in Crystal Palace, having barely left since returning from Devon weeks earlier. The house feels empty and mausoleum-like, a stark contrast to the sleeping-but-full home she once shared with her husband Anthony and infant son Theodore. She spends most of her time alone in the kitchen, avoiding calls and messages from her friend Phoebe, whose intact family—a living husband and two daughters—feels like a painful reminder of Catherine's own losses. She also hears occasionally from Libby, still stranded in Madrid, but Catherine's grief makes even these connections feel unbearable.

The monotony of isolation reminds her of maternity leave, though now there is no baby to care for. Today, however, marks a turning point: UCL is reopening, along with forty-nine other universities across the country, as part of a government effort to preserve the education system and train future professionals. Catherine's boss, Margaret, has called her in, and Catherine decides to go. She rations her dwindling coffee supply for the occasion, then takes a train from Crystal Palace to Victoria. The service is drastically reduced—one train every hour and a half instead of four per hour—and the carriages are filled almost entirely with women, with the occasional man standing out like a blot of ink. On the train, she reads a crime novel, a genre she once avoided in favor of happy endings, but now finds comfort in its darker themes.

After a thirty-minute wait for the tube and a replacement bus journey, she arrives at her office in the UCL anthropology building. The familiar corridors and smells bring her to tears. Margaret is there, surrounded by stacks of books, and the two agree not to ask each other how they are, acknowledging that neither can cope with that conversation. Margaret assigns Catherine a doubled teaching load to cover for deceased colleagues, determined to keep the department functioning. Then she turns to Catherine's email proposal: a project to document the Plague's spread, its cultural and societal impact, and the experiences of ordinary people. Margaret praises the idea, suggests it could become a book rather than a journal article, and promises funding from an emergency fund. She tells Catherine to prioritize the project over teaching if needed.

Catherine leaves Margaret's office with a renewed sense of purpose. For the first time in a long time, she has an official responsibility—not as a wife, mother, daughter, or friend, but as a recorder of history. She is determined to get it right.

Key Events

Catherine remains isolated at home, avoiding calls from Phoebe and Libby, and struggling with grief and survivor's guilt.
UCL reopens as part of a national effort to keep the education system functioning.
Catherine takes a sparse train and bus into London, observing the reduced service and predominantly female passengers.
She meets with Margaret, who avoids personal questions and assigns her a doubled teaching load to cover for deceased colleagues.
Margaret approves Catherine's project to document the Plague's impact and suggests it could become a book.
Catherine leaves with a renewed sense of purpose, feeling responsible for recording what has happened.

Character Development

Catherine's emotional state is central to this chapter. She is consumed by grief, isolation, and a resentment toward those who have not lost everything—particularly Phoebe, whose intact family feels like a splinter in Catherine's skin. She admits to irrational hatred, acknowledging that rationality is more than she can bear. Her inability to engage with happiness is evident in her rejection of romance novels; she now prefers crime fiction, finding comfort in death and justice.

The chapter marks a shift in Catherine's identity. She has lost her roles as wife, mother, daughter, and friend, and she feels unmoored. Returning to work provides a structure she desperately needs. Margaret's approval of her project gives her a new role: that of a chronicler, someone who can make sense of the catastrophe through documentation. Catherine's determination to