53 pages • 1 hour read
Louise ErdrichA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Cedar and her roommate prepare for their last day in the hospital, planning an evening escape. During a surprise inspection, Orielee finds the hidden rope. The roommate attacks Orielee, breaking her silence to ask Cedar for help. Cedar helps her roommate strangle Orielee to death. They store the body in the closet and then wait, eventually overhearing another nurse assume that Orielee has left early to celebrate her birthday.
The silent roommate introduces herself as Tia Jackson. Her feigned silence has allowed her to eavesdrop on nurses, and she learned that the babies are taken to study, while the people who were held in the former prison were mostly killed. Some, however, were enlisted as bounty hunters, one of whom captured Tia. Before the capture, Tia was a textile designer. She does not know the whereabouts of her husband.
Tia and Cedar spend the day nervously preparing. Finally, they block the door, and Cedar breaks the window with a hammer. They tie the rope to the bed and throw it out of the window, climbing out and down the rope. Sera appears and ushers the women into a recycling truck, which drives away from the hospital to a recycling facility, where the driver Shawn takes the women to a hiding place.
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