The Girls in the Garden: A Novel

Clare didn’t tell her daughters that Chris was released from the hospital and refused to take him in. She wonders where he ended up and if he is still alive. She recalls one medication made him consider dying by suicide in the past: He intentionally overdosed, and Clare took him to the hospital when the girls were babies. She also never told the girls about this. The day before Pip’s birthday, a package arrives on their doorstep from Chris. Clare checks to make sure the gifts and card are safe. When they are, she recalls times when Chris was good at fatherhood. She guesses that Chris is currently living with “Love-Struck Roxy,” a young woman who worked on a film with him and had a crush on him. Clare also finds a store receipt in the bag with the gifts.

The narrator switches to Pip’s perspective as she visits Rhea in the park on her birthday. Pip walks the large rabbit, and Rhea explains that she got a rabbit because she wasn’t sure that she would outlive a dog at 84. Near the Rose Garden, Pip meets Gordon, who is in a wheelchair after his foot surgery.