Chapter 51

Summary

• The chapter is set on March 20, 1960, in Henley-on-Thames, with characters Aiden Davies, Hazel, and Imogene Mulroney at the center of the events.
• Hazel insists on being present for the confrontation with Imogene even though Aiden thinks it's unsafe and would have preferred she stayed away.
• They arrive at a deserted-looking house, greeted by a woman named Dot Bellamy who reveals Imogene went to tell her daughter, Iris, about the situation and isn't home.
• Dot appears disheveled and distressed, her professional demeanor from the previous day greatly diminished.
• Aiden assumes Imogene's desire to talk to her daughter is a stall tactic and insists on waiting only 15 minutes before taking action.
• Hazel and Dot have a personal conversation on a bench, where Dot grapples with conflicted feelings toward her family.
• During their talk, Dot realizes that her own past as an evacuee child was not what she has been led to believe.
• After the 15-minute wait, Aiden prepares to go to Iris's house and gets the address from Hazel.
• News from Aiden suggests Imogene may have fled the scene, but Dot is in disbelief, adamant that Imogene just wanted to tell Iris the truth.
• Hazel suspects Imogene has run away, and very soon, Aiden's anger hints at this possibility being real.
• Imogene's confrontation with Hazel and Aiden reveals a complex story claiming she saved Dot from drowning and justifies her actions based on Hazel's mother's choices during the war.
• Hazel and Imogene engage in a heated exchange, with Imogene maintaining a belief that she acted righteously by "saving" Dot and giving her to another family.
• Amidst Imogene's self-justification, key information about Hazel's and Dot's shared past emerges, including Hazel briefly leaving Dot alone with Harry, which may have led to Dot's river accident.
• Aiden arrests Imogene for kidnapping, dismissing her claims of having saved Dot as delusional self-righteousness.
• With Imogene taken away by the police, Dot is left reeling from the revelations, struggling to reconcile her love for Imogene with the new truths about her past.
• At the conclusion of the chapter, Hazel persuades Dot to accompany her to Binsey to see Bridie in an attempt to confront and possibly reconcile with their shared family history.