59 pages • 1 hour read
As Bright As Heaven
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Part 1, Chapters 31-46Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and child death.
Part 1, Chapter 31 Summary: “Evelyn”
Evelyn hears the crash and runs to Willa’s room. She and Uncle Fred help Pauline to bed. Pauline tells the girls to stay out of her room, but Evelyn feels the need to care for her mother. Evelyn thinks that Fred’s work had “a measure of sacredness to it” before the flu (164), but now he must be ghoulishly efficient. Fred is upset that they brought a baby home to a place where there are so many bodies, but Evelyn feels like the baby is the one bright spot in a collapsing world. Evelyn thinks, “We can only do the best that we can at the moment we can do it” (166). Evelyn asks Dora Sutcliff if she can take the baby so that he is away from the funeral home, but she cannot; Charlie has the flu.
Part 1, Chapter 32 Summary: “Pauline”
Pauline dreams of meeting Thomas at a dance and promising to marry him.
Part 1, Chapter 33 Summary: “Willa”
Willa suggests naming the baby Alex, Henry’s middle name. She wants to see her mother.
