French Braid

Serena, the daughter of Lily, is the protagonist of Chapter 1, which begins in March 2010 at the Philadelphia train station. Serena and her boyfriend, James, wait for the train to Baltimore after visiting his parents. Beforehand, they debated whether they should spend the night at his parents’ home, sleeping in the same bedroom, or make a one-day trip. It irritated James when Serena decided she was not comfortable sleeping with him in his parents’ house, since they would assume they have a sexual relationship.

While watching for their departure gate, Serena sees a familiar man, saying quietly, “I think that might be my cousin” (5). She makes no move to address him, and James finds her uncertainty and hesitation odd.

Serena worries about locating the right gate and finding two seats together. James says he wants a soda. Serena points out that he can get one on the train, but James walks away casually to order one. As she waits, Serena thinks about how different her family is from his: a large family with many brothers and sisters. Serena remembers envying large families and wondering what sort of family she would create.

When James returns, he brings her cousin, Nicholas, with him. Serena and Nicholas embrace clumsily. He says he is catching a train to New York. They reminisce briefly about the last time they saw one another, at the funeral of Robin Garrett, their grandfather. Nicholas cannot remember which of his aunts, Alice or Lily, is Serena’s mother. Serena says she is Lily’s daughter. The encounter is cut short when James observes that they must board their train. He notes, “[Y]ou guys give a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘once removed’” (9).

On the train, James and Serena compare their families and bicker about which family is normal. James points out the emotional distance that is so obvious in Serena’s family. He returns to his complaint that she was not willing to sleep with him during their visit, meaning the long trip must take place in a single day. For Serena, seeing her cousin at the train station has ruined the weekend. She realizes she never felt the loving closeness James’s family has with her own. She reflects, “[E]ven when the Garrets did get together, it never seemed to take, so to speak” (21). Serena, who initially perceived James to be an exceptionally desirable person, recognizes that he is not so different from presumptuous schoolmates in her past. She feels relief as the train pulls away from Philadelphia, since it means she can soon be on her own.