Summary

In Chapter 5, Andrew is vacationing in a cabin, and he is writing a letter to his therapist. Andrew writes about the days following the 9/11 attacks. Andrew called Briony’s parents on the phone to inform them of Briony’s apparent death. Bill died of a stroke soon after. Betty, alone and grieving for her husband and daughter, suffered a sharp decline in health and also died not long after. Bill and Betty were buried in small coffins, and a jar of unidentified ashes was interred as a stand-in for Briony.

Chapter 6 transitions to a later therapy session. After giving Willa to Martha, Andrew left New York City and moved to Washington, D.C. He found a job as a science teacher at a public school in Washington, D.C. The job did not pay well, the school was severely underfunded, and Andrew lived in...