Summary

Chapter 11 opens with Claudia’s memory of her time on the German-Polish border in 1945. In this disputed territory, fought over since time immemorial, she meets a mélange of people whose nationalities and languages are so hybrid Claudia is prompted to reflect on the nature of political borders. A nation with clear borders, and in particular an island nation, avoids the disorder wreaked by territorial disputes. From here the chapter moves on to Claudia and Gordon’s first post-war encounter and then back to their relationship in late adolescence. Though the two reveal little and conceal much in their first meeting after the war, it does not take long for their old competitiveness and jealousy to reestablish itself. The unusual intimacy that exists between Claudia and Gordon here and in previous chapters is fleshed out for the first time in the account that follows of Claudia...