The Caretaker: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, illness, pregnancy loss, mental illness, and ableism.

Blackburn is cleaning the headstones when Daniel Hampton arrives. He tells Blackburn that Naomi has died in the process of losing her pregnancy, insinuating that this resulted from the shock of learning of Jacob’s injuries. Daniel asks Blackburn to dig a grave for Naomi, insisting that he and Cora want her to have a proper burial in the family plot. He asks Blackburn to draw a map to the Clarkes’ farm, refusing to allow Blackburn to go instead when Blackburn asks to.

The news of the “death” of Naomi spreads quickly. Cora, thinking back to Jacob’s premature birth, rushes to send Jacob a telegram before Naomi can do so herself. In it, she tells him that the Clarkes have ordered Jacob never to contact them.

At her father’s farm, Naomi recalls when she began working as a maid at the hotel. She would set aside some of her money each week either to buy an ice cream or to attend a movie. She met Jacob when they both entered the movie and he asked her to sit with him. Their courtship began quickly thereafter.