The Cliffs

Jane and Holly clean out their mother’s bedroom. The house is filled with things her mother could never sell. Jane realizes that Holly has more memories than she does of their mother. Holly finds a locked diary, but it has only one entry: a list of food Shirley ate one day, which they both find funny and typical. Jane reflects on how her family lacks stories, the way that the donors to her archives do.

Suddenly Jane is reluctant to sell the house. Holly opens a bottle of wine. Jane wishes Holly wouldn’t drink in front of her but talks about Clementine’s visit. Holly doesn’t believe that their grandmother would speak through a medium. When Holly tells Jane their grandmother had an affair with a married man when their mother was a child, Jane doesn’t believe it. Holly says Shirley remembered him coming to the house, being taken to his, and sometimes being left home alone. Jane refuses to believe it but does recall that she and Holly were left home alone like that). Holly says that when their mom was 10 or 11, their grandmother came home upset and never saw the man after that. Jane remembers her mother trying to convince her that her grandmother wasn’t perfect, but Jane just thought Shirley was jealous.