Part 1: Chapter 8 Summary

The picture that Didion paints of Inez's life as the wife of Harry Victor is that of a person who is sleepwalking. Her homes do not reflect her in any way, and they are professionally kept. She takes jobs from time to time, but they do not engage her. When asked what special interest she wanted to focus on in her role as congressman's wife, Inez expressed the only strong interest she had shown during those years; she wanted to work with refugees, she said. However, this was considered too controversial for the wife of a congressman, so she was named the consultant for the paintings that hang in American embassies and residences around the world instead, a job which required very little effort from her. "She had the protective instincts of a successful refugee. She never looked back," writes Didion...