Midnight at the Electric

Lenore describes how she stayed with her parents and started going to London with her mother. She went back to the house, but James clearly had not been there. Lenore fell into a routine and convinced herself she didn’t want to go to the United States and that Beth was not a good friend.

During her trips to London, Lenore would go to the British Museum, where one time she saw James, who was getting ready to depart on a five-year expedition to Indonesia with his family. She met his parents and looked at their exhibit then left to rejoin her mother.

Later that night, Lenore saw smoke coming from the cottage, and she went there to find James waiting for her with dinner. They apologized to each other, and James gave her a baby Galapágos tortoise. Lenore and James slept together that night, and Lenore became pregnant. Lenore is worried that her tailbone, which she broke as a child, will interfere with the birthing process. She also writes that she is on a ship traveling to America and that she will be coming to Beth’s home.

Catherine takes Beezie and they run away from home, toward New York City. She writes to Ellis three days after they leave. The areas surrounding Canaan are also suffering from the Dust Bowl conditions. Beezie is upset that they have left, and Catherine assumes Ellis and Beth are, too. Catherine has left Ellis the letters from Lenore, and she has left her journal for her mother. She asks Ellis to share with Beth that she and Beezie are safe.

Catherine and Beezie make it to Harrisburg. They have seen many other travelers, and Catherine resents how strangers look at her and Beezie like they are diseased. Catherine is focused on helping Beezie, and she is still upset with Beth for lying about being Catherine’s mother and for being a bad friend to her biological mother, Lenore.

Catherine and Beezie are set to arrive in New York the following day. Catherine is desperate to save Beezie, and says she will write to Ellis again once she knows whether they will be safe in New York.

Catherine writes her last letter to Ellis. When she and Beezie first arrived in New York, Catherine found work doing laundry and found a room to rent that she and Beezie shared with several people. Beezie’s health declined, and Catherine took her to a doctor who blamed her health on the dust, warning Catherine to watch for signs of a fever.

New York is much different from Kansas; Catherine writes that she can’t see the sky but that the city is full of electricity and things to do. When winter arrived, Beezie got sicker; Catherine soothed her by talking of home. Catherine lost her job and started to plan their trip back to Canaan, but then a young woman named Sofia Ortiz moved into their shared room.

Sofia quickly found a job, and helped her roommates. One night, Sofia helped Beezie when Beezie had a bad coughing fit. She gave Catherine home remedies to use on Beezie and promised to find Catherine a new job. Sofia had lived on a farm in Texas, but they lost the farm because of the dust. She also lost her father to dust pneumonia, which is one of the reasons she came to New York. However, she deeply misses her farm and farmwork. Sofia and Catherine made a deal to support each other.

A few weeks after Beezie’s coughing fit, Sofia found Catherine a job making clothing. Beezie’s health drastically declined, and she struggled to breathe, so Catherine carried her to a hospital. Delirious, Beezie fought against the medical staff, but Sofia arrived and helped to calm her by asking her questions including asking what her favorite flower is. Beezie told them it was a lily, and Sofia promised to name her first child Lily if Beezie would allow the to doctors help. After three days of caring for Beezie, Catherine woke up to find Beezie was gone. Feeling better, Beezie had gotten up and found a piece of cake.

Catherine tells Ellis that she isn’t coming back to Canaan. Two weeks before writing, Beth arrived in New York. Catherine knows Ellis is working at Jack’s store and is back together with Lyla. He is also caring for Galapagos.

Catherine speaks to Beth about Lenore, and Beth explains that she didn’t mean to keep Catherine’s mother a secret. Beth had ignored Lenore because she felt inferior to Lenore and didn’t want Lenore to leave her behind someday. When Lenore arrived in Kansas, she and Beth started their friendship over; they were soul mates. Then Lenore died in childbirth.

When Catherine asks when Beth will return to Canaan, Beth reveals that she has sold part of their land. She shows Catherine a newspaper clipping about it in which the reporter misunderstood Beth, writing that Catherine and Beezie had died. A few days later, Sofia offered Catherine a job, but Catherine turned it down and offered Sofia their family farm. Catherine writes that she is not returning to Canaan but that she, Beth, and Beezie are sailing to England to see the Allstock family. Catherine says goodbye to Ellis and encloses fifty dollars to pay him back, suggesting that it is enough money for him to afford to follow her to Forest Row.