French Braid

Robin is the protagonist of Chapter 5, which focuses on Robin and Mercy’s 50th anniversary, on July 5, 1990. Robin decides to throw a surprise anniversary party for Mercy on the Sunday beforehand; Lily objects, saying, “I don’t think Mom is the kind who likes surprises, to be honest” (144). Robin chooses to arrange the party without the help of his children. He believes that no one realizes Mercy doesn’t live with him anymore; he hopes she will never tell the children, assuming they would be devastated. Because his parents divorced when he was six and his mother died of cancer when he was 14, Robin loathes the notion of divorce. He clings to the promise that Mercy will never divorce him. He still marvels that she was ever attracted to him and wonders if, one day, Mercy will realize she made a mistake when she married him.

Alice tries to convince him to notify Mercy about the party, echoing Lily’s misgivings: “[I]n my opinion, surprise parties are never, ever, under any condition whatsoever, a good idea” (147). He amiably refuses her suggestion and her offer to take over, instead asking her to call

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