Contents
Part Two — Chapter Seventeen
Overview
Theo visits Alicia’s aunt, Lydia, and encounters open hostility. Lydia condemns Alicia, claiming Alicia cruelly painted her and should be in prison. Shaken, Theo leaves determined to examine the painting at Alicia’s gallery. The meeting deepens Theo’s sympathy for Paul and stirs memories of his own abusive upbringing.
Summary
Theo, still woozy from being knocked out, follows Paul upstairs to meet Lydia Rose. Lydia immediately suspects Theo is a journalist, shrieks at Paul, and resists any explanation that Theo is Alicia’s therapist. Paul calms Lydia enough to get her into bed, where the clutter and medical paraphernalia underline her poor health.
Lydia fixates on Theo with hostility, spitting at the mention of psychotherapy. She declares Alicia deserves prison, not hospital, and launches into a tirade about caring for her brother Vernon and for Alicia after Eva’s death, only to be repaid with betrayal.
Lydia’s grievance centers on a painting: Alicia allegedly painted her without consent and exhibited an “obscene mockery.” As Lydia’s agitation rises, Paul asks Theo to leave to protect Lydia’s health. Theo departs, concluding that Alicia fled this toxic household to escape Lydia’s domination.
On the journey back to London, Theo resolves to visit Alicia’s gallery to examine the painting that enraged Lydia. He reflects on Paul’s isolated, stunted life under Lydia’s control and recognizes parallels with his own history of escaping an abusive father, leaving him despondent yet newly focused.
Who Appears
- Theo FaberTherapist narrator; meets Lydia, endures her hostility, and resolves to examine Alicia’s controversial painting.
- Lydia RoseAlicia’s aunt; hostile and domineering, condemns Alicia for exhibiting a humiliating portrait and demands she be imprisoned.
- Paul RoseLydia’s son; mediates the encounter, protects his mother’s health, and evokes Theo’s sympathy for his constrained life.