Summary

In Part V, Vera returned to Mr. Phillips’ apartment in the city. The housekeeper hid her displeasure at Vera’s return and ushered her into the sitting room to wait for the supplier. He greeted her warmly and inquired about her trip. Vera stated that the stranger Ruth, who had visited the town when she was an upper, was her mother. Mr. Phillips nodded, as he chewed on shortbread. Vera thought about the days in the Rapid Ready when Ruth “reach out her hand and let [their] fingertips brush as she paid for her film, and all [Vera] thought was that she was learning to be like [the townspeople]” (218). She had been in the same space as her mother, but she saw her only as a stranger; she “drove her into the water” (218). Mr. Phillips dismissed Vera’s disgust with herself and assured...