Chapter 19
Contains spoilersOverview
Alice arrives at Margaret Grace Ives’s house on a sweltering Saturday and finds Margaret answering the door herself because Jodi has the day off. They settle in the living room with coffee and macarons, share a brief laugh over bad coffee, and formally mark the transition to telling Margaret’s own story. Margaret agrees, hinting that a period of her life felt like “pure magic.”
Summary
Alice visits Margaret’s home and is surprised that Margaret greets her personally; Jodi is off for the day. Due to the heat, Margaret suggests sitting in the living room, and they stop in the kitchen for coffee and frozen macarons before settling in.
The oppressive heat makes the air-conditioning struggle, and Alice jokes through a wince at the taste of the coffee. The moment breaks the ice, and both women laugh, establishing an easy rapport before the interview begins.
Alice sets out the recorder and frames the day as the point when the narrative shifts to Margaret’s own life. Margaret initially deflects, describing herself as one square in a family quilt that resists being pulled in any one direction, emphasizing the Ives family’s interconnectedness and pressure.
Alice asks Margaret to focus on her personal experience despite that pull. Margaret agrees to begin and reveals that, for a time, her life felt like “pure magic,” signaling the start of her first-person story to come.
Who Appears
- Alice
interviewer; arrives for the next session, sets the recorder, prompts the shift to Margaret’s personal story.
- Margaret Grace Ives
subject; hosts Alice herself with Jodi off, reflects on family interconnectedness, agrees to begin her own life story and describes an early period as “pure magic.”
- Jodi
assistant/household staff; mentioned as having the day off.