Summary

In Chapter 30, Joan remembers Vic asking her what there was “left to fear” (267). She had felt he was being cruel. He believed only he had something to fear because he had a daughter (268).

Joan started bleeding. She passed out from the blood loss and dreamed “of the Atlantic City boardwalk of [her] youth” (268). She recalled her mother’s habit of hoarding hotel bath products, all of which she still has. She remembered her mother refusing to let her in the bathroom while she bathed. Her mother’s “interior was so complex” (271). Joan only wanted “her to take care of [her]” (271).

In Chapter 31, Joan woke up and told Eleanor to fetch some rags because she was “losing the baby” (273). After Eleanor left, Joan’s pain worsened. Finally, she birthed the fetus. The baby was alive for a few minutes. Holding his tiny body, Joan...