Chapter Thirty-Four
Contains spoilersOverview
In early 1974, Frankie completed inpatient treatment, reframed her past, and prepared to reenter a world eager to forget Vietnam. She reconciled with her parents as supporters, committed to sobriety, and chose to leave Coronado to find a quieter life. With Barb’s help, she set off on a road trip up the West Coast and ultimately found a remote Montana farm that felt like a place to heal and start over.
Summary
As the country exhaled after the war, Frankie continued inpatient recovery, learning tools for sobriety and PTSD with Dr. Alden’s therapy and Henry Acevedo’s support. She confronted her beliefs about Joseph “Rye” Walsh and realized his professions were self-serving rather than true love, shifting her focus to the enduring love of family and friends. Vietnam remained her deepest wound, and she recognized that most people—including clinicians—could not fully understand it.
Henry told Frankie it was time to leave to make room for others, assuring her she was ready. They parted as friends, with Henry urging her to seek help, find a sponsor, and believe she deserved lasting love. Frankie walked out to find her parents waiting anxiously yet lovingly, and she accepted their support without probing how they explained her absence to others.
Back at the Coronado cottage, Frankie began rebuilding her life: planning AA meetings, getting a sponsor, making amends (including repaying the bicyclist), and deferring any bid to reinstate her nursing license until stable. She reconnected with her parents in small, honest exchanges about Vietnam’s harshness and acknowledged their changed, more openly affectionate concern.
By summer 1974, Frankie maintained sobriety one day at a time. She decided she needed quiet and space to heal and asked her parents to let her sell the beach bungalow to start over somewhere rural where she could breathe, possibly with animals. Though worried, her parents agreed to support her decision.
On moving day, Barb arrived unannounced to accompany her, relaying Ethel’s love from afar due to a high-risk pregnancy. Frankie said goodbye to Coronado and her parents, then drove north with Barb, letting highways and instinct guide them through California, Oregon, and Washington as they searched for a place that felt right.
After rejecting several locales for fog, crowds, or claustrophobic forests, they reached Montana. Near Missoula, they found a 27-acre riverside property with a farmhouse, barn, and horse fields in disrepair. Despite the work and remoteness, Frankie felt an immediate sense of peace and possibility, confident she could find AA support nearby. She chose the Montana farm as the place to build her new life.
Who Appears
- Frances “Frankie” McGrath
protagonist; completes inpatient treatment, reframes her past with Rye, recommits to sobriety and PTSD healing, decides to sell her Coronado cottage, and chooses a Montana farm as her fresh start.
- Henry Acevedo
friend and clinic director; encourages Frankie’s discharge, offers ongoing support, and affirms she deserves lasting love.
- Dr. Alden
therapist; guides trauma processing and prompts Frankie’s realization about Rye’s words and intentions.
- Mom (Mrs. McGrath)
mother; anxiously supportive, expresses pride, and accepts Frankie’s plan despite worry.
- Dad (Mr. McGrath)
father; loving but emotionally reticent, supports Frankie’s discharge and move though he avoids discussing the war.
- Barb
best friend; joins Frankie’s road trip north and supports the decision to settle near Missoula.
- Ethel
friend; absent but “present in spirit,” pregnant and on bed rest.
- Jill Landis
group therapist; seen leading a session as Frankie departs the center.
- Joseph “Rye” Walsh
former lover; discussed in therapy as Frankie recognizes his selfishness and releases him emotionally.