Contents
Chapter 40
Overview
In the days after Tom’s suicide, church women steady the household while Meg and Lucille reel. Meg is excluded from the funeral and clings to small comforts. Lucille clashes with Isabelle, then discovers Tom left no will and nothing in her name. Dependent and furious, Lucille drinks, binding Meg to her precarious care.
Summary
In the stunned aftermath of Tom’s death, neighborhood mothers arrive to manage the house and coax Lucille into basic care, while Meg goes silent with shock. Willy May brings casseroles, tends the ailing Isabelle, and briefly comforts Meg, who longs to leave but is told she must stay with Lucille.
Meg is not allowed to attend Tom’s funeral because it is a suicide, and she watches Lucille depart in mourning clothes. Alone, Meg studies funerary customs in an encyclopedia and worries over Tom’s body and his glasses, then retreats into a novel for relief.
Lucille returns from the funeral enraged, claiming Isabelle humiliated her and ripped heirloom earrings from her ears. Lucille retreats upstairs with liquor, while Meg takes a bath and privately imagines sending Tom off with his favorite book.
Soon after, Lucille phones a New York law firm about Tom’s estate and then meets the Heidelbergs. She learns Tom left no will and nothing is in their names; Isabelle and Big Tom offer only to “assess the situation,” providing no support.
Back home, Lucille vents that she and Meg have been left with only Tom’s clothes and typewriter. She begins day drinking before noon, declaring it is now just the two of them under the Heidelbergs’ control, leaving Meg effectively trapped and financially exposed.
Who Appears
- MegNarrator; grieving and numb, barred from Tom’s funeral, seeks comfort, and remains stuck with Lucille.
- Lucille HeidelbergWidow; oscillates between despair and rage, clashes with Isabelle, learns there’s no will, turns to drink.
- Isabelle HeidelbergTom’s mother; ill with grief, allegedly humiliates Lucille at the funeral, controls family assets.
- Big Tom HeidelbergTom’s father; fielded Lucille’s request, offers only to ‘assess,’ withholding financial support.
- Willy MayHousekeeper; cares for Isabelle, brings food, comforts Meg, explains funeral exclusion.
- Tom Heidelberg (deceased)Recently died by suicide; his lack of a will leaves Lucille and Meg without resources.
- Marybeth’s mamaNeighbor; helps manage the house and urges care for Lucille after Tom’s death.
- Gloria’s mamaNeighbor; coordinates food and tidying, part of the support effort for Lucille.