Summary

Pages 71 - 74—“A Parisian Winter,” like “A Robin’s Anthem” before it, suggests one thing in the title and delivers another. While the image of a robin evokes hope and the new life represented by spring, much of that essay is dark and hopeless. However, while the image of winter in this chapter’s title could create a bleak, cold tone, James’s opening essay is a happy surprise. Beginning with a reminder of the typical American media message that Christmas is “a time of overindulgence” (71), James quickly dismisses that notion with the confession that she has always observed the holiday in an almost Spartan-like fashion. Now, buoyed by her successful cancer surgery and change of zip code, she embraced the moment that “came December in Paris” (71). Describing the overnight transformation of her neighborhood with...