Summary

In Part 2, "The Settle House," a third person narrator tells the Settle House's story, from its construction on. After Peter's birth, his family returned to Denmark. They returned for holidays. One year, Peter received the binoculars. The house was so dilapidated, everyone thought the family would leave permanently. Years later, Peter considered selling the house. The house also reveals the thoughts of Peter’s daughters, sister, and wife.

Over the years, the house filled with webs and dust. Later, Sheela gave birth there. The house continues seeing everything the family does. In the present, "the house is straining to see down to the beach,” where the girls sit by the fire (100).

In "Sheela," Chapter 1, a close third person narrator follows Sheela's perspective. Sheela has always thought houses are bodies, and that mothers' bodies are houses. She has also "housed depression all through...