I watched the 44th Presidential Inauguration this week, along with millions of my fellow Americans. Many times I heard the words "hope" and "dreams" in the President's speech as he implored us to believe in and stay true to our ideals. These same words seemed central to the 9th chapter "A Basket of Trips." On the day of her husband's funeral,

Marlene Bonney is told by her cousin Kerry Monroe that she has had an affair with Marlene's late husband. And this was the girl Marlene befriended and even employed at her store! Marlene is understandably devastated, and we are led to believe that even Kerry feels some remorse as she drinks herself into oblivion. In this chapter Olive too confronts her lost dream of having beloved son Christopher close. In fact he now lives on the other side of the country and pays only dutiful visits to his father but is "terse" with his mother.

I wonder whether Marlene would actually have killed Kerry if Olive had not appeared on the scene. Was she capable of murder? Those cruel words Kerry uttered to Marlene earlier that day "I thought you knew" might have driven a lesser person to it!

The "basket of trips" that Marlene and her husband kept in the closet were actually pipe dreams, and never would come to fruition. When Molly agrees to destroy the basket for Marlene, she reflects "We all have our basket of trips, "seeming to imply that we have to accept what life hands us.

But how could someone as nice as Marlene deserve this kind of betrayal? She was portrayed as a loving mother, devoted wife, and friendly (if not too bright) storekeeper. I felt this was the saddest, darkest chapter, even more so than "Starving." Is it because there appears to be no hope? Or because Molly can't seem to reach out and comfort those who need her sympathy?

Aside: I loved the scene in which the author describes the encounter on the beach between Marlene's son and Kerry. Without providing any conversation, I could easily imagine what they were saying to each other. What remarkable writing!

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