Part 2, Chapters 8-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “After”
Part 2, Chapter 8 Summary
After Josh’s funeral, Will goes to Rosie’s house, where everyone gathers for a meal. Marley sits with Rosie, who hasn’t spoken the whole day. Josh’s funeral reminds Will of his grandfather’s, where no one said anything meaningful about him. He tells Rosie that he’s sad that no one has said anything about Josh’s true character and how funny and loyal he was. Marley tells him to stop, but he continues, telling Rosie she should mark him in her memory with her “own things […] the real things” (140). Rosie remains silent and won’t look at Will, but she tells Marley he’s right when he walks away. Rosie breaks and sobs while Marley holds her.
Will prepares to leave, but Mrs. Winters stops him and angrily blames Will for Josh’s death because it happened at Will’s party. Will apologizes, saying that Josh was his friend, but Mrs. White continues, excoriating Will for being a degenerate who doesn’t have friends and instead uses people to get what he wants. Will internalizes her scorn and leaves the house, wishing he’d tried harder to prevent Josh from falling. He goes to Darcy’s house, and they have sex outside in the garden. Afterward, Darcy mentions that Josh died at Will’s party, and he just stares at her. In the following days, Will tries to channel his grief into running, pulling weeds in the garden, and working, but he can’t escape it and turns to alcohol again.
Rosie empathizes with her parents’ grief, but no one can understand how she feels having lost her twin. She lays in his bed all day, and when her father tells her to get up, she returns late at night, curling up in his sheets, trying to find what remains of his scent. The day arrives for Rosie to leave for college, but she doesn’t want to go. She asks Will to meet at the lighthouse the night before, but he doesn’t come. Before she leaves, she goes through her “checking” routine, taking so long that her mom wonders what she’s doing.
Part 2, Chapter 9 Summary
Rosie tries to immerse herself in her Oxford coursework, and some days, she acts like a typical college student. Yet, her checking continues, and she isn’t sleeping much. She loses weight and misses texting Josh to tell him about her life. She walks daily at dawn and notices a handsome boy rowing on the river but forgets about him over the break. Christmas break is miserable because it forces her to return home and face her grief, and when she returns to college for the second semester, she stops sleeping at all, and her checking increases.
Will drinks daily but hides it well. While he’s trying to sober up in the wee hours of the morning, Rosie calls and tells him that she can’t sleep. He talks to her about mundane, everyday things until she falls asleep, and he does, too. The following day, Gran notices that Will doesn’t look well. She’s been taking it easy on him since Josh’s death, but Will wishes she wouldn't because he wants everything to return to the way it was before. When Gran mentions him losing touch with Rosie, he snaps at her. Rosie begins calling him every night, and he helps her sleep. One day, she breaks the pattern and calls him early in the morning. Rosie feels it’s time for them to talk about why Will didn’t say goodbye before she left. Surprised at how quickly his “white hot” anger appears, Will rages at her for not empathizing with his own grief. Rosie listens to him vent, but she’s angry too. Yet Will doesn’t want her sympathy and suggests they not speak anymore. He’s tired of playing “games.” Rosie doesn’t call that night.
Rosie meets the rowing boy, Simon, at a bar and begins dating him. He is polite and strong and makes Rosie feel safe. She speaks often to Marley, who is studying medicine. No one in college knows Rosie loves music, and she isn’t taking any music courses or involved in music activities. At night, when she can’t sleep, Rosie writes poetry using it as a release, pouring out her grief onto the paper. When she runs out of paper, she writes on her arm, and for the first time since Josh’s death, she composes a song. Simon notices her arm but doesn’t ask her what it means.
Will works extra to save for a plane ticket. He sleeps with many women but often thinks of Rosie. Gran finds his empty liquor bottles and confronts him about his drinking. Will confesses that it’s gotten much worse since Josh’s funeral. She asks him to pour out the liquor and promise her that he will quit, but Will refuses. He can tell he’s hurting her with his hostility, but Gran stands her ground. She says she may need him to drive her to the doctor soon, and he must be sober. He thinks she’s bluffing, a cruel trick, and claims it won’t work. Amber also confronts him about his drinking. She’s wise for an 11-year-old, and Will tries to quit for her and Gran, but it only lasts three days. He drinks alone in the same car park where he got into trouble years before and then goes to a bar. He buys a plane ticket to fly to Thailand on his birthday, the anniversary of Josh’s death.
Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary
Though he and Gran haven’t spoken since their argument, she hugs him, something she never does, and leaves him a birthday cake and card. Alone, Will is about to leave for the airport when Rosie knocks on the door. She was supposed to go home but told her parents she was spending the summer with Simon. She doesn’t want to be alone or with her parents on the anniversary of Josh’s death. Will makes her mac-and-cheese and then lets her sleep in his bed. The next day, Gran brings her tea and suggests that she tell her parents where she is, but Rosie doesn’t. She stays with Will and his family, eating and resting, and she and Will spend many hours talking at night. One day, while walking together, Rosie declares, “There is no God,” and when Will doesn’t respond, she knows she loves him (173). He wants to know about her friends at college, and she tells him about Simon. She says he’s “dull” but grounded and comfortable.
Rosie feels stuck in her life, so Will suggests they take a trip. They fly to Montenegro and camp near the beach. They spend their days swimming, reading, and eating, and Rosie feels at peace for the first time since she can remember. One night, over dinner, Rosie tells Will that she wishes she’d told Josh about her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Will listens as she explains how the disorder has impacted her life, specifically her sleep. Will confesses that when he was 14, he witnessed his friends rob a lady, and though he knew they planned the crime, he didn’t do anything to prevent or stop it. He’s carried the guilt and shame ever since. There is a moment when they are close, and Will wants to make a move but chooses not to. Rosie also thinks about touching Will all the time. They sleep together every night but don’t have sex. Their waiter at dinner mistakes them for newlyweds and tells Will that Rosie is a special girl. Later in bed, Rosie weepily tells Will he is her best friend. Will watches her sleep, thinking he’s never loved anyone like this.
Part 2, Chapters 8-10 Analysis
Josh’s death represents a turning point in Will and Rosie’s romantic arc, emphasizing the novel’s thematic engagement with The Challenges of Complex Family Dynamics and Relationships. Rosie’s grief makes it impossible for her to deal with her feelings for Will, and the blame her mother’s places on Will for Josh’s death creates another roadblock to their being together. Through tragedy, Daverley demonstrates grief’s ripple effect, affecting not only Will and Rosie’s relationship but those around them as well. For example, Marley can’t fully empathize with Rosie’s grief despite being her best friend. When Will begins drinking again to numb his pain and guilt, Gran confronts him, leading to conflict and tension in their relationship. Even though Josh’s death connects them, defining the emotional stakes of their relationship. Daverley emphasizes the ways in which their overwhelming grief and unresolved emotions drive them apart.
Will and Rosie’s various attempts to distance themselves from their grief and each other highlight The Individualized Nature of Mental Health. Despite still being in the throes of grief, Rosie leaves for college and attempts to distance herself from her family, Will, and anything that might exacerbate her grief and anxiety. Daverley frames Rosie’s college experience as amplifying the symptoms of her obsessive-compulsive disorder and compromising her mental and physical health. Similarly, Will begins drinking alcohol and engaging in frequent casual sex to manage his pain. Both Will and Rosie convince themselves that they are managing their issues, but the physical toll their coping mechanisms take on their bodies evidences the need for individualized support. Rosie dates Simon because she feels safe with him, and Will sleeps with many women so he won’t feel so alone. Rosie’s physical health deteriorates, and Will’s drinking causes his anger to become uncontrollable. When Rosie revives their nocturnal tradition of being able to speak freely with one another at night, both are in pain and struggling, and the calls help them connect and grow their relationship. The late-night calls allow them to experience intimacy even when physically apart, reinforcing the ways in which their bond transcends the limitations of their circumstances.
While Rosie's unannounced appearance on Will’s doorstep ends their physical separation, The Significance of Unspoken Words and Repressed Emotions casts a long shadow over their relationship. They spend days together uninterrupted yet their inability to express their grief over Josh’s loss and their complicated feelings towards one another creates barriers to their intimacy. Rosie realizes she’s in love with Will during her visit but refrains from telling him. Their trip to Montenegro brings them closer to one another physically and emotionally, yet in five days in paradise together, they can’t summon the words to say how they feel. Watching Rosie sleep next to him, Will thinks, “[…] the love he feels is bigger than anything he’s felt before, bigger than his anger and his pain, his desire and his fury, and this, to him, is entirely new, and the right thing, he knows, is to keep it to himself” (186). Rosie holds back out of fear and clings to the myth that being a good girl and following the rules will bring her success and safety. Will convinces himself that he doesn’t deserve Rosie’s love due to his past. The trip represents a missed opportunity to embrace a life together, signaling the ongoing nature of their personal growth.
