Part 4: Chapters 13 - 26 Summary

The female characters in Jane Austen's novels rebel against choices made for them by incompetent parents or imposed on them by a rigid society. They risk all to affirm their right to choose their own destiny.

Elements of the regime, despite a seeming relaxation on the one hand, launch a new assault on intellectuals. At a party, a story is recounted about a bus trip by the members of the writer's association. An invitation to attend a conference in Armenia had been accepted and a bus hired for the trip. The bus arrived late to pick up its passengers with a different driver than the one who had been expected. The journey proceeds. The passengers fall asleep. At about 2 a.m., one passenger notices that the bus has stopped in the middle of nowhere and that the driver was...