III. Finding a Voice Summary and Analysis

When Eudora is no more than ten years old, she and her father travel by train, and he explains how everything works and where they are. Everything is new to Eudora but is a landmark to her father. They dine in the dining car and sit on the open-air observation deck to watch the sparks on the tracks from the train. Christian puts the journey into a frame of regularity and predictability. Eudora watches the towns and people they pass, never thinking that they continue the same after the train passes. Then and for a long time to come, Eudora proceeds in fantasy. Not until after Christian's death does Eudora learn how well her father knew the journey. Christian fell in love with Chestina while she was a teacher in West Virginia and he was...