Summer of '69

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 1, Chapters 7-11

Part 1, Chapters 12-16

Part 2, Chapters 17-20

Part 2, Chapters 21-24

Part 2, Chapters 25-28

Part 2, Chapters 29-32

Part 3, Chapters 33-34

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 2, Chapters 29-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “July 1969”

Part 2, Chapter 29 Summary: “Midnight Confessions”

Jessie figures out that Pick is Blair, Kirby, and Tiger’s half-brother. Shocked, Jessie asks Kate whether Exalta knows. Kate confesses that she might but that she doesn’t really share anything with Exalta and begins to cry. Kate explains how Lorraine sent a letter telling Kate that she was pregnant. Kate confronted Wilder, telling him that she’d contacted a lawyer and filed for divorce, which was a lie. Minutes later, Wilder pulled the trigger of his gun. Bill came from Nantucket to make it appear to be an accident, a fact they hid from David. Kate confesses that she has waited for years to be punished. Jessie feels sympathy for her mother having to keep these terrible thoughts of guilt to herself for 16 years.

When Jessie checks on Kate later, she seems happier, having revealed her secret. When David arrives, he notes how beautiful and mature Jessie seems and then has a private conversation with Kate. Exhausted by her mother’s story, Jessie falls asleep. She wakes up during the night, hungry, and makes her way to All’s Fair. She thinks she sees her parents watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon on TV but is surprised to realize that it’s actually Bill and Exalta. When they kiss, Jessie slips away without disturbing them.

The next day, she goes with her father to play tennis at the Club. David signs in as Nichols, and Jessie asks whether he hides that he’s Jewish. He assures her that everyone knows he’s Jewish and has other important qualities. He takes Jessie for ice cream after their game and tells her that he’ll always listen to what’s on her mind without judgment. She realizes that she can’t tell him Kate’s secret and that maturity and responsibility might include knowing when to keep things to oneself. She feels that this summer is significant because it marks when she turned into a “real person” (365) like her mother and grandmother. She realizes, too, that David has recognized her true self all along.

Part 2, Chapter 30 Summary: “For What It’s Worth”

Kirby is questioned by Edgartown’s police about Senator Kennedy’s story. When asked about Kennedy’s supposed arrival at the hotel at 1:15am, Kirby knows that this isn’t possible. Kirby explains that she never saw the Senator and that Mr. Ames gave him his key because she (Kirby) was elsewhere dealing with the drunken Luke. The sergeant leaves, and Mrs. Bennie fires Kirby for leaving her post but says she’ll write her a reference. Kirby packs her things to head to Nantucket. Darren tells her that he’ll drive her to the ferry, and Kirby says that she wants to go early to avoid goodbyes. At the terminal, Darren gathers her in his arms and tells Kirby that he’ll see her in the fall. They share a long kiss, and a passing “hippie” tells them, “Love is all you need” (371).

On the ferry, Kirby happily thinks that the world may be changing for the better and then sees Scottie Turbo with his pregnant wife. Caught staring, she quickly recovers, saying that Ann seems familiar to her, while Scottie looks on with fear. He insists that Kirby can’t possibly know them. Kirby says that maybe she’s drawn to them because of Ann’s pregnancy. She explains that she lost a baby herself. Making eye contact with Scottie, she mentally says goodbye. Kirby is relieved to arrive at All’s Fair. She climbs into bed with Jessie, who hugs her fiercely and welcomes her home.

Part 2, Chapter 31 Summary: “Get Back”

In the week after the twins’ arrival, the only word from Angus has been the telegram, and Joey merely sent a dozen pink roses. Kirby adamantly tells Blair that she doesn’t need a man. Blair admits that she loves being a mother but isn’t sure she wants to be alone. She finds Angus’s behavior appalling but wants a way to forgive him. When Angus sends word that he’s coming to Nantucket, Kirby advises Blair to talk to him but stand up for herself. When Angus arrives, Blair demands to know the truth about Trixie. Angus explains that Trixie is a psychologist who has been treating him. Embarrassed and ashamed by his mental condition, he couldn’t tell Blair that he’d started therapy. Blair tells him that he shouldn’t have been embarrassed about getting help and confesses that the incident with Joey was a mistake. She tells Angus, however, that things must change. She must be free to go back to school, and he must become a dedicated partner and involved father. He assures her that he will and that he loves her.

Part 2, Chapter 32 Summary: “Both Sides Now (Reprise)”

Kate and Bill talk, and he assures her that he’ll still seek information about Tiger. She asks if he has heard from Lorraine or Pick, but he just smiles sadly. Blair and Angus have reunited, and Kirby is working at a Nantucket hotel. She spends her extra time with Jessie. Kate isn’t worried that Jessie will reveal her secret, which she feels “weighs only half as much now” (385), and hasn’t had a drink for a week. Kirby and Jessie invite Kate to go bowling, Tiger’s favorite activity. She hesitates but goes, and she feels closer to Tiger. Later, she hears on the news that 17 men have died in Cambodia. She calls David in Boston, but he has no news. He promises to call when he does. Convinced that Tiger is dead, she starts drinking. When David calls, he has no further details, but Kate can’t be shaken from her conviction. She begs David to come as soon as he can but doesn’t share her fears with anyone else. David arrives with no news and suggests that they go to church. Rather than take David where he’s not welcome, Kate goes to the Quaker Meeting House. Taking his hand, she thinks of everything she loves about Tiger.

As they approach All’s Fair, Kate sees Bill carrying an envelope and succumbs to hysteria. Bill calmly reasons with her and tells her it has nothing to do with the news report. It’s a letter from Tiger, which reveals that he’s on leave in Guam. He discusses his various missions and a boy he rescued named Luck. The colonel was impressed and offered him a promotion, which Tiger turned down. He explains to Kate that he has found his calling in being a soldier and that she should be proud she raised a hero.

Part 2, Chapters 29-32 Analysis

Letting go of the past with honesty brings real progress for Kate and her daughters. Kate and Kirby get past their secrets, Jessie embraces growing up, and Blair reunites with Angus after healthy compromising. Even Exalta lets go of her belief in social obligations for a new start at love with Bill, while Tiger likewise chooses a life he loves.

In her confession to Jessie, Kate reveals how lost and lonely she was and how this led her to harbor secrets. Kate reveals that her pain about Wilder is because after she threatened to leave him over Lorraine’s pregnancy, he shot himself. She lied to David that his death was an accident rather than suicide to avoid responsibility (and secure her children’s financial future). Letting go of her secret, and the shame of it, eases Kate and bonds her to Jessie. Furthermore, Kate’s confession makes her realize how much she values her relationship with David. As a result, she stops drinking and lets herself fully feel the pain of missing Tiger.

Bill becomes a surrogate father figure in these chapters as he strives to help Kate and realizes his growing love for Exalta. Exalta softens under his care and learns not to worry about what others might think about her falling for her middle-class employee. Bill calmly reasons with Kate when she gives in to hysteria, thinking that Tiger has been killed. By the end of this section, it’s clear that Bill is an integral part of the family and a calming, steady force in their lives.

David, too, is reestablished as a leader in the family. For years, he has borne the weight of not being liked by Exalta, yet he carefully defends her against Jessie’s accusations of her anti-Jewish sentiment. He points out that it’s less important to worry about how others label you than to trust that people will admire your inner goodness and positive behavior. Jessie realizes that David recognizes her good and mature qualities, and this fills her with comfort. Kate, too, has realized how much David is willing to sacrifice to be her supporter. She loves him for that. When David agrees to pray with her for Tiger, she doesn’t go to her usual church, where he’s unwelcome. In the Quaker Meeting House, she realizes that his love is her sacred place and that their marriage is worth fighting for, not hiding from.

Darren realizes that Kirby is someone he doesn’t want to hide and proves his love for her at the ferry slip by kissing her in public. This gives Kirby hope that their relationship may work out and helps her really break from her past so that when she encounters Scottie and his pregnant wife, Ann, on the ferry, she can stand up for herself. In a subtle conversation in which she speaks in a code only Scottie understands, she reveals the loss of her baby, and intimates to him that he treated her dishonorably. When he seems to look at her with regret and apology, she walks away, released and happy.

The restored Kirby gives good advice in turn to Blair about talking and listening to Angus, which differs from her earlier advice to just dismiss him. This shows that Kirby has learned that people are more complex than she originally gave them credit for. Kirby just wants Blair to make sure that she’s not sacrificing herself. Blair asserts her need for a new start with Angus and negotiates changes to both their behaviors to assure the twins’ happiness. In addition, she also greets his confession about having a mental health condition with care and sympathy. Their relationship still needs work, but this is their first completely honest conversation.

Tiger, who was lost about what he wanted to do when he headed to Vietnam, reveals how much he loves being a soldier, despite the risks involved. He urges Kate to be proud of how she raised him. This is the final release that Kate needs as Tiger asserts his responsibility for his own life choices. By the end of Part 2, the Foley-Levins are wiser than they were and eager to make new starts with their loved ones, leaving their past hurts and secrets behind. The theme of Maturity and Responsibility shines as the family comes together to heal the past and embrace the future.