On Flinders Island, Brooks dreams that Tony leaves her to spend time with their friends. The anger that she experiences in the dream lingers with her after she wakes up, and she can’t understand why. She realizes that she isn’t angry with Tony for “leaving” her but angry with death for taking him.

In her home in Massachusetts, Brooks reflected on how Tony was interested in finance and investments ever since he was young and how he oversaw all the financial decisions in their marriage. All the credit cards were in his name, and Brooks had to begin the process of getting them transferred to her name and familiarizing herself with the details of their finances. Though she didn’t have the emotional or physical strength to undertake the task, modern life required that she power through because the bills had to be paid.

Mick, the owner of the shack on Flinders Island, says that he needs his shack to house visiting family, so Brooks moves to a smaller, more remote location. Unbothered by the reclusion, she settles into the beauty of the new landscape.

After a week since Tony died, Brooks longed for solitude with her sons. However, she acknowledged that her friends wanted to be with her and mourn Tony, so she hosted a gathering at the house. Tony’s college friend Ron arrived from Boston, and his presence was a balm as Brooks struggled with managing her grief along with the grief of others. The rabbi read poetry instead of scripture, knowing that Tony would prefer it. They collectively recited the kaddish, a Jewish prayer of mourning.

Brooks observes the Cape Barren geese, native to Flinders, and appreciates their social nature, which reminds her of Tony. While she is an introvert, Tony was outgoing and enjoyed hosting parties for their friends. She thinks that Tony wouldn’t have liked the solitude of Flinders. Since his death, Brooks has tried to be more social but finds it difficult without his gregarious and energetic presence.

The day after hosting the gathering at her house, Brooks met with the family lawyer, George, to review Tony’s will. Due to a complication with the will, the probate court clerk had assigned a “guardian ad litem” to protect Bizu, who was a minor. Frustrated and overwhelmed with what she deemed the “cruel bureaucracy of death” (135), Brooks had to go to court to fight the issue. Her desk, once a place of creativity, was now filled with toppling piles of legal documents and unanswered condolence letters. Brooks’s sister arrived from Australia, which was a comfort.

Brooks immerses herself in learning about Flinders Island’s natural history. Reflecting on deep time and the island’s age, which is between 12,000 and 18,000 years, gives her much-needed perspective. It reminds her of how she and Tony first met in graduate school. After meeting at a party, Brooks waved to Tony, but he didn’t wave back. They later had a class together, and Tony explained that his glasses were broken and that he didn’t see her wave. When they first began dating, it was a long-distance relationship due to their work. They married a year later, and Tony gave her his great-grandmother’s ring. At their wedding, Tony’s mother read a poem she wrote that highlighted the serendipity of two people from opposite sides of the world coming together.

Tony left no formal instructions for his burial but once joked about being buried in the center of the Chilmark field, where he played in a community softball league every Sunday morning during the summer. On Father’s Day, Brooks and her sons buried Tony’s ashes and mitt. She reflects on how much Tony enjoyed the game and how his teammates often wrote hilarious accounts of their antics after the game. She notes the irony of a man who loved graveyards and history not having a headstone or anything marking his grave.

At her residence on Flinders Island, Brooks finds a dead bird on the porch. She lays it to rest under a tree. The following day, she sees that maggots are eating it. She doesn’t find the sight disturbing; rather, it reminds her of the circle of life. She wishes that her own death would be this seamless—an instant reintegration into nature, without ceremony.