Contents
Part One — Chapter Ten
Overview
Theo meets Kathy and recounts their origin story: instant attraction despite existing partners, a night together, and swift commitment. Their engagement leads to a painful visit with Theo’s hostile father and depressed mother before a simple civil wedding. The chapter closes with Theo contrasting Kathy’s warmth with Alicia’s darkness and silence.
Summary
The chapter opens with Theo meeting Kathy at the National Theatre café, where Kathy animatedly recounts to friends how they first met. Her story triggers a detailed flashback: both were with other partners when they felt an immediate, overwhelming attraction.
That night, after arguments split their partners from the scene, Theo and Kathy shared drinks, flirted, and went home together. They spent the night in an intense encounter, after which Theo immediately ended things with his girlfriend, Marianne, over the phone, while Kathy dismissed her boyfriend, Daniel.
On their first proper date at Kew Gardens, Kathy’s exuberance and warmth catalyzed a transformation in Theo, who felt newly alive and unafraid. Their relationship accelerated: Kathy moved in by December, and during a joyful first Christmas together, Theo impulsively proposed; Kathy accepted, and they became engaged.
Seeking validation, Theo introduced Kathy to his parents in Surrey. The visit was bleak: Theo’s father was hostile and contemptuous, his mother withdrawn and unsteady. Leaving, Theo felt regressed and trapped, but Kathy embraced him, signaling understanding and deepened love.
They married in a small, secular registry ceremony. Theo privately thanked God for unexpected happiness, then reflects on the stark contrast between Kathy’s light, color, and laughter and Alicia Berenson’s darkness, sadness, and silence, reaffirming the emotional stakes driving his interest in Alicia.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberNarrator; recalls meeting Kathy, their affair, engagement, parents’ visit, and marriage; contrasts Kathy with Alicia.
- KathyTheo’s wife; charismatic, impulsive actress; initiates rapid romance, accepts proposal, supports Theo after toxic family visit.
- MarianneTheo’s then-girlfriend; leaves the bar upset; Theo ends their relationship by phone after his night with Kathy.
- DanielKathy’s then-boyfriend; argues with her and leaves; effectively discarded as Kathy pursues Theo.
- Theo’s fatherHostile and critical during the Surrey visit, deepening Theo’s sense of childhood entrapment.
- Theo’s motherWithdrawn and fragile during the visit, heightening Theo’s sadness and history of familial pain.
- Alicia BerensonReferenced by Theo as a contrast to Kathy; symbolizes darkness, sadness, and silence.