The Mother-in-Law

Flashing back 10 years, Lucy meets Ollie’s parents for the first time and is overwhelmed by the wealth and glamour of his family home. Lucy quickly feels rejected by aloof Diana, who operates a charity for pregnant refugee women. She also meets Ollie’s younger sister Nettie and her husband, Patrick. The family questions Lucy about her relationship with Ollie and her past. When Lucy begins sharing details about her mother’s death from breast cancer, Diana abruptly ends the conversation to announce dinner. Despite these ominous signs, Lucy remains optimistic that “before long, we’re sure to be the best of friends” (16). Lucy recalls her doting mother, Joy, who passed when she was 13. Shortly after her mother’s death, her father hired a maid named Maria, who cared for her like a mother. Since Maria’s departure when Lucy turned 18, Lucy has hoped for a maternal relationship with a future mother-in-law. After dinner, Lucy overhears Ollie asking Diana what she thinks of Lucy. To Lucy’s disappointment, Diana replies that she is fine (21).

Back in the present, the police officers allow Ollie and Lucy to feed their children and put them to bed before they disclose the details of Diana’s death. Once the children are asleep, the officers reveal that a neighbor saw Diana’s body through a window and called the police. Her body was discovered several hours after her death. While the autopsy results did not reveal a cause of death, the police suspect suicide. Diana left behind a letter. When questioned about Diana’s potential suicide, Ollie discloses that his mother had breast cancer, but he does not believe she would commit suicide. Ollie’s sister Nettie and her husband Patrick arrive, and Lucy and Ollie are shocked by Nettie’s deteriorated condition.

Told from Diana’s perspective, this chapter details Diana and Lucy’s first meeting. At a lunch with the wives of her husband’s friends, Diana is asked about her first impressions of Lucy. Diana repeats that she thinks Lucy is “fine” (30). The women ask what Diana hates about Lucy. Not seeing her assessment as negative, Diana is confused by the women’s reaction. The women ask Diana if Lucy is a gold-digger like Patrick, her son-in-law, and she says no.

Ollie proposes to Lucy within a year of dating. Diana accompanies Lucy and her father as she shops for wedding dresses. The sales associate continuously refers to her as the mother of the bride. Diana finds the process “monstrously indulgent” (34). After hearing the cost of the dress, Diana, struggling to stay quiet, thinks about a young refugee mother from Sudan she recently helped through her charity. When the sales associate attempts to persuade Lucy and her father to pay extra for accessories, Diana erupts, admonishing the sales associate for the high prices and announcing, “I’m not Lucy’s mother” (37).

In the present, Lucy, Ollie, Nettie, and Patrick try to process Diana’s death. Lucy hints at the violent history of her relationship with Diana and thinks about the day Ollie’s father, Tom, died. The four discuss Diana’s funeral and the police investigation, wondering why Diana’s death is being treated as a homicide. After Ollie questions who would want to kill Diana, Ollie, Nettie, and Patrick stare at Lucy.

On her wedding day, Lucy and her matron-of-honor, Claire, realize that she does not have something borrowed to wear. After Diana’s outburst in the bridal dress shop, Lucy did not buy the expensive wedding dress and chose to wear her mother’s dress instead. Diana enters the room and presents Lucy with a necklace to wear as her something borrowed. Pleased at Diana’s efforts, Lucy accepts the necklace and wears it. As she leaves the room, Diana tells Lucy that she must return the necklace after the wedding.

Time flashes forward to one year after Ollie and Lucy’s wedding. Lucy is eight weeks pregnant with their first child. She and Ollie attend a dinner with Ollie’s childhood friend Eamon and his wife, Julia. Without any financial help from Ollie’s wealthy parents, Ollie and Lucy struggle to save for a down payment on a house. Eamon tells Ollie and Lucy about his new business venture in meal replacement kits. Hopeful that Ollie will invest with his parents’ money, Eamon asks Ollie to work with him. Ollie politely refuses.

The morning after Diana’s death, Lucy and Ollie tell their children, who laugh and do not seem saddened by the news. Ollie questions why they are not sad. Harriet declares that Diana was mean to Lucy.

On the day of Archie’s birth, Diana drives to the hospital to meet her first grandchild. She has a large teddy bear to deliver to Archie at Tom’s request. En route, she receives a call from Ghezala, one of the refugee women she helps through her charity. Ghezala is a young pregnant woman from Afghanistan who is in premature labor. Diana abandons her plans to meet Archie and rushes to the young woman’s aid. Frustrated by the lack of action from Ghezala’s husband, Hakem, Diana confronts him, but Hakem derides her. Rushing to help Ghezala, she arrives in time to deliver the baby herself.

Tom, Ollie, and Lucy eagerly await Diana’s arrival at the hospital. Lucy is hoping that this will be another opportunity to bond with Diana. Disheveled, Diana arrives late and holds Archie. When Tom asks about the teddy bear, she confesses that she gifted it to Ghezala.

Two weeks after Archie’s birth, Diana arrives unannounced at Lucy’s doorstep with a raw chicken. She hopes to bond with Lucy and make up for the teddy bear she gave away. Recalling how someone gifted her a chicken after she gave birth, Diana wants to explain the meaning of the gift to Lucy. Diana quickly notices that Lucy is struggling with new motherhood as Archie suffers from colic. Disturbed by the untidy state of their home, Diana offers to clean up. Diana stresses about saying the right thing to Lucy and recalls her attempts to lend Lucy the necklace on her wedding day. She inherited the necklace from her mother-in-law and now realizes she should have explained its significance to Lucy. Noting that Archie is still uncomfortable, Diana burps him, which causes him to fall asleep. She orders Lucy to sleep and leaves before explaining the meaning of the chicken.

Three days have passed since Diana’s death. Ollie has not returned to work, which shocks Lucy. For the past two years, Ollie has worked with Eamon and become a workaholic. Lucy opens the mail and discovers a bank statement for Eamon and Ollie’s business. The statement claims Eamon and Ollie are over a million dollars in debt. Before she can confront Ollie about this, two homicide detectives arrive. After Lucy welcomes them in, they question her about her relationship with Diana. Lucy calls the relationship complicated.

The detectives reveal to Lucy and Ollie that they have found no evidence of Diana having breast cancer and are now investigating Diana’s death as a possible homicide. After the police share that Diana’s letter was left in her desk drawer, Lucy questions why Diana would hide the note if she truly did commit suicide.

Right before Archie’s first birthday, Lucy and Ollie request a meeting with Diana and Tom. Ollie shares that they have found a house but need some financial support to meet the 20% down payment. Diana rejects Ollie’s request. As Lucy and Ollie leave, they speak briefly with Nettie and Patrick. Ollie reveals that his father has written him a check for the requested money without Diana knowing. Nettie and Ollie share that this is how they have always navigated these situations. Sickened by these games to get money, Lucy demands that Ollie not use the money Tom gave him for their house and that he never asks for money from his parents again. He agrees.

After Lucy and Ollie leave, Diana and Tom discuss her resistance to lending the money. She recalls how Tom worked his way up from being a plumber’s apprentice to partner at a large residential development firm. The chapter flashes back to 1970 when 20-year-old Diana finds herself pregnant. The baby’s father suggests Diana travel to a home for unwed mothers where she can deliver the baby and give it up for adoption secretly. At the home, Diana rooms with a 14-year-old pregnant girl named Pamela. The woman in charge, whom she calls Matron, informs her not to share any details about her identity beyond her first name and encourages her to teach Pamela some decorum. In their time together, Diana attempts to teach Pamela, but she rejects Diana’s lessons. Over time, Pamela grows friendly with Diana and shares the name she has chosen for her baby. She also tells Diana to call her by her nickname Pammy.

As her due date draws nearer, Diana struggles with her desire to hold her baby and confesses to Pammy that she has a name for her baby: Oliver. One day, Diana discovers that Pammy has disappeared, and Matron refuses to give her any information. One of the other residents shares a story of a girl who talked about keeping her baby and was forced to work to pay back the home. The girl went into premature labor and, because she was unable to pay her debt to the home, was forced to give up her baby for adoption. During a visit with her mother, Diana tells her mother that she wants to keep her baby. Her mother scolds her and tells her to move forward with the adoption. Diana runs away later that night.

In the present, Lucy, Ollie, Nettie, and Patrick plan Diana’s wake at the funeral home. Nettie and Lucy leave to get lunch for everyone. Lucy notices “a thick purple ring” (105) around Nettie’s wrist, but Nettie refuses to talk about it.

Diana reflects on her different approaches to parenting Ollie and Nettie. Focused primarily on Ollie, Diana never worried much about Nettie, whom she feels was “born so capable and articulate” (108). She recalls an incident where she left Ollie and Nettie swimming in a pool. Sensing something was wrong, Diana returns to the pool and discovers Ollie bleeding and holding Nettie under the water. Nettie dived in to help Ollie after he hit his head while diving. Out of an instinct to survive, Ollie attacked Nettie.

Shortly after Diana’s visit with newborn Archie and Lucy, she returns home and discovers Nettie has stopped by unexpectedly. Diana notices that Nettie seems upset and wonders if the birth of Archie has been difficult for her since she struggles with fertility issues due to polycystic ovaries. Upset, Nettie refuses to stay for dinner and leaves for home.

In the past, Ollie and Lucy travel to his family’s beach house. Uncomfortable, Lucy is not looking forward to the trip. After they arrive, Diana informs them that she has moved them from their typical rooms to more remote rooms downstairs. Lucy feels offended. In solidarity, Nettie and Patrick move downstairs too.

Later that evening, Nettie helps to bathe Archie and put him to bed. She asks Lucy a series of questions about caring for Archie, and Lucy wonders if Nettie is pregnant. Lucy and Nettie join the dinner party upstairs. Much to Diana’s chagrin, Lucy sets up a secondhand baby monitor to listen to Archie. When Diana and Tom’s dinner guest questions Nettie about having children, Patrick defends Nettie. Lucy notices that the baby monitor has been turned off and confronts Diana. Upon hearing Archie crying, Lucy rushes to console him. Furious, she demands that she, Ollie, and Archie leave the next morning, and Ollie begrudgingly agrees. After putting Archie to bed, Lucy hears crying coming from Nettie’s room.