Summary

Shirley, who will eventually become Mrs. King, arrives at Peckham School for Boys and Girls to begin her teaching career. She is determined to make a difference in the lives of her working-class students. In staff meetings, an older teacher named Penelope is the only woman who speaks, and Shirley resents that she and the male teachers are making decisions on behalf of everyone else. Shirley also notes Penelope's racial bias against black students and decides to stand up to her in a meeting, but Penelope shuts her down. Shirley complains to her future husband Lennox, reaffirming her belief that her job "is to help those who are disadvantaged" (Loc 3027). In Shirley's own school days, she met her best friend Amma, who came out when they were teenagers. Shirley is uncomfortable with Amma's sexuality but doesn't want to hurt Amma. She remains silently homophobic...