Fellowship Point

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Parts 1-2

Part 3

Part 4

Parts 5-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Cemetery

Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to depression, which is depicted in the novel.

During their stay on Fellowship Point, Agnes, Polly, and other characters frequently visit the cemetery. There, all of their immediate family members are buried. They walk among the graves, visiting the deceased relatives and speaking with them as if they can hear the conversation. In this way, both women express not a macabre or fearful view of death but one of respect and honor. The share owners’ descendants choose to be buried on the Point rather than near their permanent homes in Philadelphia, which speaks to the Point’s importance in their lives. In this way, too, the cemetery reinforces the theme of Aging and Death in that both women speak frequently of their own deaths, acknowledging its inevitability and approaching it not with fear but with a kind of appreciation for the opportunity to reunite with family.

The cemetery becomes a problematic place when Nan is injured by a falling headstone. That it is Agnes’s father’s headstone, which hasn’t yet been installed properly, causes Agnes some feelings of guilt. In an attempt to right the damage done to Nan, Agnes has all of the headstones removed and replaced with flat markers. In this way, the cemetery can remain a place of peace and rest and won’t pose any further danger to children like Nan.

The When Nan Books

The children’s book series that Agnes authors features a high-spirited, adventure-seeking young girl. Through the books, Agnes supports herself financially, a goal that becomes important to her when she learns that her inheritance isn’t as secure as it might have been. Nan’s independent spirit inspires Maud Silver, who falls in love with the books after her mother introduces her to them. Significantly, a real person inspired the books, though Agnes never makes this information public. Agnes admired Nan Reed for her wild and untamable spirit, her curious nature and her love of adventure. Agnes immediately discerned the ways in which young Nan defied the strictures of her gender, refusing to adhere to them. This was partly a result of her father’s failure to socialize her, but Agnes saw that as an opportunity to encourage and nurture Nan’s unique and rare qualities. Agnes wrote the books while Nan was still living on Fellowship Point; initially the stories were a means of entertaining Nan herself, but when Nan is no longer present in Agnes’s life, the books become an homage to the girl’s spirit.

Heidi’s interest in the When Nan books is ironically fortuitous in that Heidi is in truth Nan Reed. Possibly, Heidi recognized her former self in the books and thus continued to value the part of her identity that they captured. After returning to Fellowship Point, Heidi eventually recalls her true identity and reconnects with her past. In doing so, she gradually emerges from the depression that has shackled her, hopefully working to reclaim the liveliness captured in the When Nan books.

Fellowship Point

The peninsula was named by Agnes Lee’s Quaker ancestors, who valued peace, equality, and fellowship. The Point itself comes to embody friendship for Agnes and Polly. Agnes especially finds that the place conjures memories of her deceased parents and siblings. As she walks the various parts of the Point, she can’t help but recall memories of her childhood, when she played with her siblings and Polly. Although as adults the two women occasionally meet in Philadelphia, their friendship is centered on Fellowship Point. Each summer, they look forward to reuniting with each other; as they age, they spend more of the year on the Point rather than just the summer. The place itself draws people together, as Maud discovers when she instantly experiences a kind of calm and camaraderie upon arriving on the peninsula. Ironically, despite the male reference in the name of the place, the most enduring friendships the novel portrays as developing on Fellowship Point are among women.

This spirit of companionship extends to the natural world, as Agnes and Polly seek to protect the wildlife and plants of the area on the Point known as the Sanctuary. This area in itself symbolizes a meditative, almost holy atmosphere. Agnes, in particular, feels compelled to conserve the land and protect it from future development. The Sanctuary is a place where she can commune with the natural world, relishing its beauty and power. Historically, the Point was home to Indigenous peoples before it was populated by Quakers. Agnes’s decision to relinquish the Point back to the Wabanaki as the novel closes is the ultimate display of friendship, camaraderie, and equity.