Lives of Girls and Women

Having taken a job as a traveling encyclopedia salesperson, Ada spends much of her time on the road, which Elspeth, Grace, and Del look down upon. Del wants to both “shield” her mother from scrutiny and feels “orphaned, abandoned” by her mother’s new job. Nonetheless, Del begins to spend so much time reading the encyclopedias that Ada decides to bring her daughter along with her: Del is useful to demonstrate the impact of having the encyclopedias in one’s home as Ada attempts to sell them. Del hopes that working with her mother will bring adventure, but instead, she becomes humiliated and annoyed at having to perform for her mother and pretends that she is about to vomit when reciting the American presidents. Ada accuses Del of being self-conscious and claims that “shyness and self-consciousness […] are luxuries [she] could never afford” (76). Ada begins to treat Del differently and starts to ask Del to answer questions rather than commanding her. However, Del continues to refuse, and Ada stops asking.

Due to traveling for her job, Ada rents a house closer to the center of Jubilee, where she spends September through June with Del and Owen. Del notes that there is more “order” and “wholeness” to living in a town compared to

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