Chapter 2

Natalie narrates her disciplined youth and early competence, contrasting it with a dismissive father who mocked her intelligence before disappearing. After the family relocates, her mother, Eliza Heller, reframes his absence as death to avoid scandal, reinforcing church-taught roles for women: wife, mother, homemaker.

In a small Idaho town, Eliza supports the family as a secretary and crocheter, upholding conservative ideals while managing appearances. A full-ride to Harvard transforms Natalie’s prospects, startling her mother, who expected an in-state honors track and fears big-city moral decay.

At the airport, Natalie’s sister Abigail warns her against drugs, while Eliza urges her to be “kind,” spotlighting Natalie’s social reticence and the community’s obsession with large families. Observing another mother shepherding many children, Eliza’s regret underscores the pressures Natalie is rejecting.

Natalie privately commits to a world where intellect matters more than likability, believing Boston will suit her temperament. She resists the impulse to look back, invoking the story of Lot’s wife, and chooses not to “look forward” superstitiously either, waiting at the gate and bracing for the life she is determined to claim.