Summary

Part V, "Twenty-Five Years of Tossing and Turning" (113) begins with Chapter 21, “Straddling Two Worlds” (115). The author recalls the early stages of her relationship with her husband Bruce, and how their different familial and socioeconomic backgrounds instilled them with different styles of interacting with the world. Where she is often reserved and conflict-avoidant, he is gregarious and direct.

In Chapter 22, “Why Do I Always End Up with White People” (119), Irving recalls living in Cambridge after the birth of her first child and how she was exposed to different parenting styles on the playground at the nearby park. There were no black parents or children at this park.

In Chapter 23, “Diversity Training” (124), Irving recalls enrolling her daughter in preschool and starting a diversity committee with the school's principal, hoping to invite more families of non-white races/ethnicities to enroll. She later attended a similar diversity...