That Summer

The narrative shifts back to the present moment. Hal arrives home where Diana has dropped Daisy and Beatrice. He confronts his daughter about skipping school, and she tells him that she cut school with a friend. Hal is furious and Beatrice provokes him, saying she doesn’t care about getting kicked out of another school and has no interest in going to college. Hal tells his daughter that the only reason Daisy, who did not finish college, is doing fine is because he supports her. Daisy is shocked and tells Hal to stop talking. She tells her daughter that she must follow the rules.

When Beatrice leaves, Daisy challenges Hal for belittling her. He responds sarcastically and continues to disparage her cooking business, claiming that men are supposed to work and women are supposed to stay at home. He refers to her as a “little bird” who should simply remain content where she is and leaves the room. Beatrice, who has been listening to her parents, tells her mother that “Little Bird,” Hal’s nickname for Daisy, is a less-than-complimentary reference to the play A Doll’s House. Daisy cooks dinner but is unsettled by her husband’s patronizing behavior. Upon reading the play and learning about the relationship between Nora, the play’s protagonist, and her husband Torvald, Daisy realizes that Hal treats her as someone who is less intelligent and less important than himself. She asks Beatrice about the play again and Beatrice tells her that in the end Nora walks out on her house and her husband. That evening, Daisy feels that her life is changing. She lies awake wondering what to do.

Daisy has planned a dinner party that will include members of both sides of the family, as well as Diana. Beatrice is unexpectedly looking forward to the event. When she met Diana before, Diana showed interest in her clothes and her taxidermy. Beatrice carefully dresses and sets the table. When Diana arrives, Beatrice sees her greet Hal stiffly.

Beatrice’s grandmother Judy and Judy’s partner, Arnold Mishkin, arrive, followed by Vernon Shoemaker and his “lady friend” Evelyn. Vernon treats Daisy dismissively. Finally, Danny and Jesse arrive, and the two appear strained. Beatrice imagines how the evening will go, with drinks in the living room and strange looks from the adults for her clothes and hair. In Beatrice’s imagination, at dinner Vernon will look disapprovingly at her uncles, and Daisy will cook, clear the table, and serve drinks.

At the dinner party, Diana observes how Hal treats his wife and daughter. Diana helps Daisy serve the food, and when they sit down, Beatrice asks everyone what they think about a Philadelphia Phillies player whose hate speech in old social media posts had been discovered. Beatrice states her hope that he will be dropped from the team. Vernon argues that men shouldn’t be punished for things they did when they were teenagers and suggests that if Twitter had existed when Hal was younger, he would likely not have been accepted to Dartmouth.

Vernon mentions a wild party in Newport during which Hal and his friends got drunk, went skinny-dipping, and destroyed property. Diana sarcastically comments that “boys will be boys,” but Vernon takes her comment at face value and agrees, reminding everyone that Hal’s mother had been his “office gal.” Daisy objects, and Beatrice asks Hal what he thinks. He says that people who make mistakes should be allowed to make amends. After dinner, Diana gathers Hal and Danny together and asks them if they remember her. Hal tells her to leave, and Danny apologizes. They are interrupted by Jesse, and Diana smiles before kissing Hal on the cheek and leaving.

After the dinner party, Beatrice hears her parents arguing late into the night. The next day, she begins a new taxidermy project, and on Monday at school, Cade pulls her aside. He tells her he likes her but reveals that when he first invited her to sit with him, it had been a dare from his friends. They had promised to pay him $100 to spend a day with her. Beatrice asks how many girls he has done this to and why he does it. He does not have a good answer, but when Beatrice tries to leave, Cade pulls her back and kisses her. The kiss feels amazing to Beatrice, who demands that Cade come and find her when he has decided whether he will be with her publicly rather than only in secret.

When Daisy brings some leftover chicken to Diana’s house, the doorman says that no one by the name of Diana lives there. Confused, Daisy goes to the office where Diana is supposed to work but discovers that there is no one in the directory with the name Diana Starling. Full of questions, Daisy calls her friend. The two meet at a restaurant, and Diana tells her everything: that her real name is Diana Scalzi, that she is living in an Airbnb, that Michael is her husband rather than her boyfriend, and that she is not a consultant but instead works at a restaurant on Cape Cod.

She tells Daisy that when she was 15, Hal raped her while Danny stood by and watched. Daisy asks Diana what she wants, but Diana tells her that she doesn’t know anymore. Daisy runs to the restaurant bathroom and locks herself in as her thoughts go wild. When she returns to the table, Diana has disappeared, leaving only a note that reads, “I’m sorry.”