Summer of '69

These chapters reveal Nantucket as both comforting and alienating for Jessie and Kate. However, the locations of All’s Fair and Little Fair provide mixed emotions. Filled with antiques, All’s Fair shows the length and duration of Kate’s family’s time on the island and Exalta’s consistency and established legacy. However, Little Fair, once happily occupied by the Foley siblings, shows the changing nature of time by their absence. These locations add to both Kate and Jessie’s loneliness, though neither outwardly acknowledges it.

They’re both intimidated by Exalta, who is a prickly force of nature, used to always getting her own way in all things. Exalta is loyal to traditions and is determined to maintain the family reputation in the upper echelon. When Exalta gives Jessie her heirloom as a gift, Jessie subliminally feels Exalta’s pull to have Jessie accept her ways as superior to the Levins’. Jessie chafes, wondering if Exalta has a problem with Jessie’s Jewish heritage. Kate, too, smarts over Exalta’s preference for Wilder over David. Kate knows that David is a better man, husband, and father but has trouble explaining this to Exalta, who has plainly shown her dislike.

Kate’s indoctrination by Exalta into the idea that outward facades are more important than emotional connection is why she has trouble expressing her fears and past trauma. She assumes that she mustn’t let emotion show and should put up with ill treatment behind closed doors. Exalta’s idealistic view of Wilder makes it hard for Kate to reveal he didn’t always treat her well. This negation of what happened to her makes it hard for her to move beyond her past and fully step into her position in the present. Hilderbrand symbolically shows this when Kate thinks about her inability to embrace her adult role in her childhood bedroom. Kate acknowledges that she should be creating a legacy of her own, but she remains arrested by the past and turns away from this responsibility.

That being a good mother is a difficult but important undertaking is evident in Exalta’s dominance of Kate, Kate’s inability to focus on Jessie, and Lorraine’s outright abandonment of Pick. All of these behaviors can be seen as selfish, regardless of their reasons, which range from legitimate to abusive. They create pain for the child. Bill, by contrast, is a responsible adult, both as a literal and figurative caretaker. This may explain why Kate pins her hopes on Bill’s ability to help her extricate Tiger from Vietnam. The role of parents and how they affect their children’s lives become central from this point onward.

The theme of Maturity and Responsibility again comes into play because Kirby’s intention to forgo recklessness and gain maturity seems off to a shaky start. Besides revealing that she lied to her parents about having a job, she manipulates Evan’s sexual interest so that she’ll have a companion to get stoned. Because she kept her lack of definitive employment a secret, she didn’t plan for transportation and must hitchhike to work. None of these seem like responsible actions, but hopeful signs for improvement in Kirby’s world include her blossoming friendships with Patty and Darren and her ability to secure a job. Darren and Kirby’s mutual attraction, as well as their antiwar sentiment, shows that they might be a good romantic match, if they can overcome social prejudices and Dr. Frazier’s disapproval, questions that emerge in their first scene together. Kirby keeps her earlier meeting with Dr. Frazier a secret from Darren, suggesting that she has yet to resolve the shame she feels about her past relationship with Scottie, which harms her chances to move on.

While gender issues aren’t as prominent in these chapters, a hint of them is evident when Mrs. Bennie tells Kirby that she must use discretion with the clients of the Shiretown Inn, some of whom have cheated on their wives. The idea that it’s a duty to hide indiscretion plays out later in the novel too, especially within Blair, Jessie, and Kate’s storylines. The mention that Ted Kennedy has been a guest at the inn sets up the book’s later references to the Incident at Chappaquiddick in July, a tragedy that historically hinges on irresponsible behavior and deadly secrecy.