Olive, Again

Jack and Olive are taking a drive to Shirley Falls, Henry’s hometown and the town where Olive went to high school. Jack is now 79 and she is 78, and they have been married for five years. Jack reflects on his new understanding of Olive as an anxious person. This understanding developed over the past five years. A few days before the story’s action, Jack had booked her for her first pedicure. He had found her crying because she could not cut her own toenails anymore.

When they get to Shirley Falls, they see women wearing hijabs walking along the sidewalk—a large Somali population lives in the town now. Olive reflects about how her mother used to be prejudiced against the French Canadians who lived in the town. She admonishes Jack when he disparages the Somali population. They visit Henry’s childhood home, and she shows him the tree Henry planted when he was a boy. Then they visit West Annett, where Olive grew up. She tells a story about one of her uncles and his wife, who hung herself. They talk about their childhoods, and decide to go to a new restaurant in Shirley Falls.

Olive and Jack are eating at the restaurant, talking and having a good time, when Elaine, the woman who Jack had an affair with at Harvard when he was a professor, comes in with a date. The conversation between the couples is brief and strained, and Jack does not tell Olive who Elaine really is. Jack says he’s not feeling well, and he and Olive leave without getting dessert. On the drive home, Jack remembers his affair with Elaine. In the end, when Jack voted against her getting tenure, she sued him for sexual harassment. He was put on leave for a time, then retired and moved to Crosby with Betsy. As they are driving home, Jack tries to recapture the happiness of his day with Olive, but he cannot. Olive tells him that she knows who Elaine is. She is upset with him, but only because Elaine is horrible; she is upset about his taste in women. She worries about what it says about his character.

When they get home, Jack sits and drinks whiskey and thinks about why he liked Elaine. He realizes that she is a cold woman, and that he liked her because he was a cold man. He loves Olive, but he also misses his first wife, Betsy. He remembers her as being simple, but then remembers that she was not. When he goes to bed, he has a nightmare. Olive wakes him up, takes him through the house, and reorients him. He reflects that he is alone, as people always are.

Jim and Helen Burgess fly from New York City to Maine with their grandson, who is going to summer camp. Jim and Helen are going to Crosby to visit Jim’s brother Bob, and Bob’s wife Margaret. Jim and Helen have only met Margaret once because she is afraid of the city, and so Bob visits them alone. It has been over ten years since Helen has been to Maine. Bob had originally moved back to Maine with his first wife, Pam. He and Jim are from Shirley Falls. When Bob married Margaret, they moved from Shirley Falls to Crosby because Shirley Falls reminds him of the accident his father was killed in when he was four. Bob always believed that his father’s death was his fault, but Jim confessed about ten years ago that he was actually responsible.

After Jim and Helen arrive at Bob and Margaret’s house, the two couples go for a walk and check Jim and Helen into their hotel. Afterwards, Bob and Jim go to Shirley Falls to visit their sister, Susan, and Helen and Margaret plan to go to Crosby’s downtown art fair. Helen and Margaret are awkward when left alone. Helen shows pictures of her grandchildren and talks about them. Then they go to the art fair.

Bob and Jim drive to Shirley Falls. They discuss Bob’s cases, as they are both lawyers. Bob thinks something is wrong with Jim, but doesn’t know what. Meanwhile, at the art fair, Helen is tired and finds the art amateurish. Margaret embarrasses her and Helen compares her to Pam, who she thought was more stylish. Things become more strained between the two women, and Helen buys a painting because she feels like she should.

Jim tells Bob and Susan that Helen made him go on antidepressants. The three siblings reflect on their childhood and the fact of their poverty, which Jack has forgotten. Jack tells them he was unhappy because he thought he killed their father, and then let Bob take the blame for it. They don’t really know who caused the accident, and Bob tells him to forget it. Jim tells them he misses Maine and wants to visit more.

Back in the apartment, Helen opens a bottle of wine, but Margaret doesn’t drink. Helen shows more pictures of her grandchildren. When she says she is talking about her grandchildren too much, Margaret agrees. Helen feels badly and Margaret apologizes. It is awkward, and Helen keeps drinking. She tells Margaret about the cruise that they had gone on, and how upset she had been about the living conditions of the ship’s workers. Margaret is surprised, and Helen realizes that Margaret hates her. By the time Bob and Jim get home, Helen is very drunk and falls down the stairs.

In the car on the way to the hospital, Margaret tells Bob that the accident was her fault. She says that she didn’t even try to be nice, and Helen knew she hated her. Bob tells her that Helen is shy and was nervous. Margaret says that Helen is self-centered—talking about her grandchildren and never asking about Margaret—is because she is rich. After they leave the hospital, Jim and Helen go back to the hotel, planning to go home the next day. Bob reflects on Margaret’s judgment of Helen. After Margaret is asleep, Bob goes back to the hotel. Jim is asleep, and Helen is crying. He comforts and sits with her.