48 pages • 1 hour read
Alice McDermottA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 3 is a short addendum to Tricia’s letter, which revisits her last days in Vietnam. Shortly before Tricia and Peter leave, Charlene takes Tricia on an impromptu errand with Minh-Linh. The women drive Tricia to a house in a run-down area of Saigon. Inside, Minh-Linh greets a middle-aged woman, whom Tricia assumes to be an old friend. There are several children tending the house, the oldest of which is a tall, serious adolescent girl. The girl brings out a six-month-old baby with a large birthmark, whom Minh-Linh calls “Suzie,” and places her into Tricia’s arms. Charlene tells Tricia, “she’s yours” (302). In tandem with Minh-Linh, she has arranged to have Tricia adopt Suzie for free.
A dazed Tricia exits the house with Charlene, Minh-Linh, and baby Suzie. Charlene drops Tricia off at her house. When Tricia worries about Peter still having months left on his assignment, Charlene coolly informs her that Peter has quit his job and booked Tricia a return ticket without informing her. Tricia is humiliated; in the present, she admits that her humiliation led her to invent an alternative version of events in the earlier portion of her letter.
Tricia spends a happy afternoon with Suzie, bathing and dressing her.
By Alice McDermott
Asian American & Pacific Islander...
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
Colonialism & Postcolonialism
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Popular Study Guides
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection
Vietnam War
View Collection
War
View Collection