Part 2, Thirteen Summary

On mornings when the disgrace is overwhelming, Julian leaves Hephzibah's apartment and walks through the park to Libor's place to think. His walks are a "memorial walk to the new life that had not materialized" (page 295). On this particular day, Julian does not know why he returns to the park after his pilgrimage to Libor's house because he normally walks past the BBC and along the shops on his way home. On this day, he eats lunch and returns to the park where he naps on a bench. Julian's nap is interrupted by a group of schoolchildren taunting someone Julian cannot see. Julian tries to get a better look, even as he thinks it is a big mistake to do so. In the middle of the taunting children is a fifteen-year-old Sephardic Jew, and though the children are not particularly menacing...