54 pages • 1 hour read
Kirsty GreenwoodThe Love of My Afterlife
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 32-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 32 Summary
After Delphie and Cooper have sex, Delphie mentions the first time that Cooper was rude to her. He explains that that encounter took place on the very morning that his sister died. He recounts a time when he brought Delphie a package that was delivered to his apartment by mistake and reminds her that she commented favorably on his appearance. Unable to sleep, the two talk about Cooper’s writing and the fact that he hasn’t been able to write anything since Em died. Delphie insists that Em must be in a better place, but Cooper doesn’t believe in the afterlife, and Delphie knows that he would not believe her if she were to tell him about her recent experience.
Chapter 33 Summary
When Delphie and Cooper return to their building the next morning, they see an ambulance parked out front and find Mr. Yoon on a gurney. Though Delphie tries to go to Mr. Yoon, the paramedic tells her that only family can ride in the ambulance. Delphie and Cooper rush to the hospital, where Cooper convinces a nurse to let Delphie see Mr. Yoon, claiming that they are as close as family. When Delphie goes to the man’s room and tries to apologize for not being there, Mr. Yoon just laughs and writes that she looks alive and happy. While Mr. Yoon sleeps, Delphie sketches him, wanting his memory to be preserved when she is gone. When Delphie is finally asked to leave, she and Cooper return to their building, then say an awkward goodbye before parting.
Chapter 34 Summary
Delphie contemplates the fact that she will die in two days and wonders how it will happen. She calls out to Merritt and is surprised when the Afterlife Therapist responds and scolds her for not pursuing Jonah further. Merritt complains that her coworker is trying to discover what she is up to, and she offers to take Delphie back to Evermore if Delphie does not want to pursue Jonah. As Merritt describes her afterlife dating service, Delphie realizes that Merritt is angry at her; previously, she believed that Merritt just wanted a guinea pig for her dating service. Now, Meritt complains that she just wants a happily ever after, which Delphie doesn’t believe is real. They are interrupted when Cooper knocks on Delphie’s door to ask her if he can take her out on a date tonight.
Chapter 35 Summary
On her way to dinner with Cooper, Delphie sees a young girl getting bullied and confronts the other children. Cooper takes her to an artsy restaurant around the corner, and they both think the establishment is a bit over-the-top. At dinner, they talk about how Delphie’s bullying affected her. Cooper asks if she has considered therapy. Delphie fears going to therapy, so she has relied exclusively upon antidepressants. Delphie asks Cooper the same question and is surprised to hear that he has just started therapy to begin dealing with his grief and inability to write. He admits that he booked his first session after Delphie made him laugh for the first time in years at his parents’ house.
Chapter 36 Summary
After they return to Cooper’s apartment and have sex, Delphie gets a message from Merritt, asking her if this is part of Delphie’s plan to save her own life. Delphie decides to ignore her, knowing that she doesn’t want to waste her last few days pursuing someone who has no interest in her. Delphie and Cooper talk about how Mr. Yoon’s life should be remembered, and Delphie plans to throw a party for him, knowing that this party will be the last thing she does before she dies.
Chapter 37 Summary
The doctor confirms that Mr. Yoon can come home from the hospital, so Delphie takes him home. She then goes to the library, where Aled is ecstatic to see her. She tells him about Mr. Yoon and asks him if they can throw the party for him in the library’s music room. Though it is against the rules, Aled agrees because he feels that he owes Delphie a favor. (He has been messaging Frida nonstop since they met.)
Chapters 32-37 Analysis
In these chapters, Delphie and Cooper begin to take second chances on themselves and in their relationship, finding new ways of Celebrating Life and Appreciating Meaningful Moments. Most significantly, they clear up the various unspoken misunderstandings that have stood between them, and Delphie finally understands that Cooper’s initial rudeness was due to his grief over his sister’s recent death. As Cooper admits, “My head was…I was somewhere else” (206), and this moment of mutual honesty and clarity redefines Delphie’s view of Cooper. Although she has already been starting to suspect that Cooper is much less grumpy and curmudgeonly than he lets on, his explanation solidifies Delphie’s new, more favorable opinion of him.
Their relationship changes significantly based on their second impressions of one another, and it is clear that both characters now have a better understanding of The Difference Between Living and Surviving. Rather than wallowing in their own grief and misery, they begin to change their views on dating and socializing, and Cooper even surprises Delphie by asking her to dinner rather than keeping their relationship purely sexual. Similarly, Delphie starts to recognize that she is free to actually enjoy her love life: a novel aspect of socializing that she never had before she died. This new development excites her and makes her question whether she has been missing anything else in life. While she thoroughly enjoys her new connections, she also feels a burgeoning sense of regret coupled with the bitter realization that she is going to die in just a few days.
Faced with these harsh truths, Delphie begins to weigh what is most important to her, and once she has attempted and failed to kiss Jonah, she starts to look beyond the parameters of her contract to figure out what she most wants to accomplish during her remaining time on Earth. Her shift in mindset becomes apparent when Merritt tries to convince her to keep pursuing Jonah, for Delphie lashes out, declaring, “If I have two days left on Earth, I don’t want to spend them gambling on something that has almost zero chance of succeeding. And going back to Jonah? That’s what it would be. Another humiliation” (219). However, when Merritt offers to take her back to Evermore immediately, Delphie knows that she has made new connections that she does not want to lose. Rather than pursuing her original plan, she finally does what she wants to do, and in her final days on Earth, she chooses to simply live her life rather than eking out a pale imitation of survival.
For this reason, Delphie becomes interested in the idea of Celebrating Life and Appreciating Meaningful Moments, and she comes to believe that the small events in people’s lives go unnoticed if no one is there to witness them. This thought comes to her when she sees Mr. Yoon in the hospital and realizes that he only has her and Cooper in his life. Knowing that she will soon be dead, Delphie strives to find ways to honor the meaningful moments of Mr. Yoon’s life. By sketching his portrait, for example, she symbolically makes his life more permanent through the act of preserving his image on paper. Her idea of throwing a party for Mr. Yoon takes her new philosophy still further. She remembers a birthday party that she and Cooper saw, and she tells him that the guests there “were witnesses to that guy’s life. The fact that they were there to see him change age […] meant that [his life] was remembered. That he will be remembered. Even when he’s gone” (233). Although Delphie is particularly worried about Mr. Yoon’s life going unwitnessed, her interest in this idea also highlights her concerns about her own fleeting life. Despite her lack of interest in others’ opinions of her, Delphie’s focus on gathering witnesses for Mr. Yoon reflects her fears that her own life will go unwitnessed and unremarked upon.
