Part II: Sleeper's Wake; Chapter 5 Summary

The last chapter of this section walks through the whirlwind of thoughts that storm through Avey's mind as she reflects on the high price her family paid for their affluence. She ponders the way they sacrificed the things that made their lives worth living. Suppose, she thinks, Jay really died that Tuesday night and the man who laughed at her from his coffin had been masquerading in his body, allowing him only a half-life of work. She reflects on a Christmas she spent with Sis and her family, when her grandson wept, discontented with every one of his gifts because the one he so particularly wanted was missing, and finally understands how he felt.

She wonders, and knows instinctively that they could have had both, had they only decided all those years back not to...