Summary

In Chapter 8, another plague “comes to the house in the north woods” (233). The plague attacks the chestnut trees and is brought by beetles. When Tom and his wife stay at the abandoned house during a venture through the countryside one night, they are unaware of the beetles’ presence and influence.

In Chapter 9, after Robert disappeared, Lillian was heartbroken. To tame her sorrow, she joined “the Women’s Benevolence League, a nondenominational association devoted to the creation of a better future” (243). Through Benevolence, she joined a letter writing circle and began writing to prisoners.

Lillian’s favorite pen pal was Henry Jones. Unlike Lillian’s other pen pals, Henry “told her everything” (246). As Henry opened up, Lillian did, too. She told Henry that Robert’s illness was “the defining circumstance of her life” (247). She told him about Robert’s doctors, his love for the...