The Guest List

This section begins with Hannah trying to be intimate with Charlie, who turns her down because he is tired. Hannah feels stung by the rejection and leaves the room to go on a walk. She meets Aoife on the way out, who tells her to stay away from the bog lest she get stuck. Aoife gives Hannah directions to higher ground for a chance at better cell coverage. Hannah still takes a wrong turn and finds herself in an old graveyard. There, she comes across a gravestone for whom she presumes was a young girl. The gravestone reads: “Darcey Malone,” “lost to the sea” (103). Before Hannah can inspect the gravestone much more, Aoife waves her over and points her in the right direction.

Hannah calls her mother, who is watching her children for her. Hannah is fiercely protective of her children and the people close to her. The reader learns that Hannah used to wake up in the middle of the night as a child to check on her older sister, Alice, to make sure she was still breathing. Hannah and her mother are both grateful for the change in pace at this time of year, the anniversary of when Alice died.