The Keeper of Happy Endings

A few days later, Rory hears back from Doug and he has news that shocks her: He’s found Anson Purcell, who was captured and badly wounded in Paris but did not die. He is alive and well, a wealthy philanthropist who worked for the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and is associated with several humanitarian organizations. In the collection of materials that Doug has provided her, Rory finds an article that details how Anson was imprisoned by the Germans for five months and struggled to recover from his injuries. He spent time in Switzerland after the war, learned how to walk again, and then began a life of service and philanthropy rather than taking over his father’s business. Rory is overwhelmed with questions about what happened when Anson returned home: “What had gone through his mind when he returned to find Soline gone? What had his father told him about her—and about the baby? And more importantly, why had he not come looking for her?” (293). She has no idea how to tell Soline the news but first is determined to speak to Anson himself and get answers to her questions.

Rory arrives in Newport at Purcell Industries, the family business, looking for Anson. She is directed to go to the Purcell family home, where she is greeted by Thia, who recounts her version of the events in the fall of 1943 when Owen sent Soline away. Thia reveals that she was the one who returned the shaving kit to Soline, sneaking it into her dress box. She uncovered other information after Owen’s death as she got his affairs in order, and one piece of monumental news is that Soline’s baby did not actually die. Owen paid people to lie so that Soline could never make a claim on the family, and when the telegram arrived that Anson was alive, he didn’t want to Anson to know about the child. He arranged the adoption and had the nurses lie to Soline about her baby’s death, sending hush money for over 28 years to the woman in charge of running the Family Aid Society. Thia explains that Owen wrote to Anson when he was in Switzerland, claiming that Soline ran out on him because she refused to tie herself to an injured man. Thia shares that Anson was completely changed when he returned, “so broken and bitter I hardly recognized him” (301). Owen convinced him that Soline was only after his fortune, leading Anson to hate her and never want to speak of her again. Anson has remained distant over the years and their relationship is now somewhat strained; he never returns to Newport and is usually traveling. Thia shows Rory family photo albums. In one, there is a picture of Thia in a party dress which bears a striking resemblance to one of Rory at a recital when she was a child. Thia asks Rory questions about her family—who she takes after and what her mother’s maiden name is—and then slides her a piece of paper. On it, Rory sees the name Lowell; it is a certificate of adoption from 1945, revealing that the baby who was stolen from Soline is Rory’s mother, Camilla Lowell Grant.

Rory is shocked by this news and struggles to make sense of so much new information at once. She questions whether it was fate or something else that brought her and Soline together, knowing that it was too great a coincidence to ignore: “Nothing made sense. Or maybe, finally, everything did. Maybe there was a reason she felt such a strange affinity for the row house the first time she saw it, to Soline the first time they met” (309). Thia tells her that things don’t happen by chance, and they agree that it all must be the result of some kind of magic or kismet. Rory worries about what this news will mean for Camilla and Soline and ponders how she can possibly tell them both. Thia suggests that Rory meet Anson and tell him first, hoping that some healing can come out of the situation for both Anson and Soline. Rory concludes that it may be helpful for Soline to have Anson’s support when absorbing the news and agrees to meet him.

Rory arrives in San Francisco at Anson’s hotel. He reluctantly agrees to meet her at the hotel bar. His tone is icy and intimidating, and he is highly suspicious of Rory’s story about their family, accusing her of fabricating the facts. He questions her motive for finding him and retells his version of the story in which Soline leaves him when she finds out that he’s injured and may not walk again. He did not know about the baby and questions whether it was even his, insulting Soline in the process. Rory shows him the identical pictures—one of Thia and one of her—and begs him to see the resemblance. She cries when he doesn’t believe her and shares how connected the two women have become through their shared experiences of loss. Anson softens when Rory discusses Hux, and he reassures her that there is still hope that Hux is alive based on Anson’s extensive expertise with the IFRC. Though he is bitter and hostile, Rory also sees “an edge to his nonchalance, a sullenness that told her Anson Purcell wasn’t nearly as detached from his memories as he pretended” (317). When she attempts to show him the ledger containing receipts of his father’s hush money, he refuses. Despite all that Rory has shared and her hope that she could right a 40-year wrong, Anson is not interested in reuniting with Soline. Rory’s hopes of a happy ending are crushed: “She hadn’t let herself believe the years could have hardened him enough to turn his back on the woman he’d loved so deeply all those years ago, or slam the door on a possible relationship with his daughter, but they clearly had” (323). When he exits to the elevators, she runs after him and shoves the ledger in his arms as the door closes.

Rory goes to Camilla’s house to return the recital photo. When Camilla discovers her, Rory tells her where she’s been and what she’s discovered. Camilla reveals that she’s aware of her adoption and discovered it at age 10 but does not know any details about her birth parents. Her adoptive mother, Gwendolyn Lowell, was a cruel woman who forbade Camilla from telling anyone about the adoption because she was intent on making sure that Camilla married into the right kind of family. Rory learns that Camilla actually did love her father, despite his infidelities, and Rory feels sympathy for her mom given that she was cast aside by both her adoptive mother and husband. Rory then tells her the entire story of Soline and Anson, including all the details of what happened during the war, the adoption papers, the ledger, and her visit with Anson, and Camilla is in disbelief. She refuses to consider that the story is true and accuses Rory of making up the story because of Soline, asking her, “Do you really need her in your life so badly that you’d swallow this preposterous story? Or is this my punishment for behaving badly the other day?” (332). Rory attempts to convince her mom, but Camilla remains skeptical. Rory tells her that she is still hoping that Anson will come around and is waiting to tell Soline, and then she leaves the house deeply disappointed in her mother’s response.

Camilla invites Soline to brunch to apologize for the way she treated her at lunch. She shares with Soline a bit about her strict and unloving upbringing and reveals that she has been holding so tightly to Rory because she is all she has. She doesn’t want to become like Gwendolyn, and Camilla is actually proud of Rory, telling Soline that Rory is “brave and beautiful and knows exactly what she wants to do and be […] She’s the me I wish I’d had the courage to be when I was her age” (339). Camilla divulges that she was jealous of Soline, afraid that she would lose Rory as a result of their strong bond. Soline tells Camilla about the echoes­—the connection between loved ones that binds them forever—and reassures her that nothing could take Rory away. Rory arrives at lunch and is surprised to see Soline there. Soline defends Camilla to Rory, explaining that she understands that Camilla was just threatened and scared of losing her daughter. Soline explains to Rory that Camilla’s busy social calendar and entourage of friends are just coping mechanisms to fill the emptiness that she feels inside. Rory is still angry but Soline encourages her to give her mother a chance to make amends.

A week prior to the gallery opening, Rory gives Soline and Camilla a tour of the space. Soline and Camilla have grown close, going on shopping trips and having lunches together. Camilla has given up her need to manage and interfere with Rory’s life, allowing Rory the space to focus on the gallery. They are in awe of the gallery; Camilla expresses how proud she is of Rory and compliments all the work that she’s done to accomplish this dream. The women gift Rory a designer suit for the opening. One of her artists pulled out at the last minute, and now Rory has wall space to fill in just eight days. Soline suggests again that Rory put her own art in the gallery and Camilla agrees, so Rory works to complete one of her unfinished pieces. She intends to get through opening night and then find a way to tell Soline the truth.

The gallery’s opening night is a success, with a large crowd showing up and purchasing several pieces. Soline enjoys the event despite the large crowd. Camilla helps the night to run smoothly, and Rory is grateful for her expertise at managing the event. The two toast at the end of the night, apologizing for the ways they failed each other and promising to do better in the future. Rory feels that it has been the perfect ending to an almost perfect night when Anson shows up unexpectedly and demands to talk to Rory. They attempt to get him to leave before Soline sees him, but it's too late—she is at the top of the stairs and recognizes him immediately.

When Soline tries to approach Anson, he leaves the gallery. She sees that his eyes are cold and hard and remembers how he used to look when speaking of the Germans—now he’s looking at her the same way. She collapses on the stairs and struggles to make sense of what’s happening. Camilla and Rory apologize profusely and she sees the guilt on their faces. Rory explains how she found out about Anson and that they were waiting for the right time to tell her. Soline cries as she begins to understand that Anson has been alive all these years and wants nothing to do with her. Before Camilla and Rory can reveal that they are Soline’s daughter and granddaughter, she demands to leave and be left alone.

Soline has been alone for four days and is refusing any calls or visitors. When Thia shows up with Camilla and Rory, she finally agrees to see them after Thia begs to be let inside. The women have put together a photo album to explain the family connection to Soline: pictures of Thia and Rory as little girls to show the resemblance and the adoption certificate bearing Camilla’s name. It takes a few moments to register, and then Soline sobs as she fully absorbs the information, overcome with a both grief and joy. She thinks of Maman and resolves to move forward with the family she has now, “three generations bound by blood and echoes, making up for all the lost years” (371). She concludes by claiming that she doesn’t care if Anson doesn’t want her; she refuses to forgive him and feels that the man she loved, and thought she lost during the war, is dead to her now.

Soline is alone now with the photo album, reflecting on the magic that brought her family back together. As Soline settles into sleep, she is awoken by Anson knocking at her door. He has come to confront her, and she sees how time, rather than mellow him, has made him callous and emotionless. Anson tells Soline what happened during his capture in Paris and fills in details that she doesn’t know: how they shot him in both legs and left him for dead and how he was picked up by Nazis and kept alive to be used in a prisoner swap because of his father’s connections and because he was a Red Cross worker. Soline shares her side of the story. Anson reveals that he looked for Soline years ago and hired an investigator to find her; when the investigator returned with pictures of Soline and Maddy together, Anson mistakenly thought that Soline married Maddy, and Soline finds that accusation hilarious. She explains that Maddy was gay and that even if he had been straight, she was still in love with Anson and he was the only man for her. Soline tells Anson that he has more of his father in him than she thought possible, an insult that she can see strikes a nerve. Anson reveals the reason he came: to return the rosary beads. He softens when he sees that Soline kept the shaving kit for 40 years. He tells her that keeping the rosary beads with him made him feel connected to her through the years and made him believe that what they shared in Paris could never be over. Anson explains that he became a person he hated after losing her: “Bitter. Hard. Lost in a bottle most of the time” (383). He admits that when Rory visited him in San Francisco, he wasn’t ready to own up to his mistakes. He apologizes for the years that they lost and for believing his father’s lies. They reconcile, both understanding that they can’t get the lost years back, but they can make something of the years they have left.

Soline and Anson spend the night together and wake up the next morning feeling like the young lovers they once were. The walk around Boston and talk nonstop, “filling in the blanks left by forty years apart” (387). At park bench in the Common, she shares that she loved coming there because it reminded her of their lunch dates in Paris, and he confesses that when he missed her so much that he was tempted to drink, he would drive to Boston and visit the park, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Soline tells him that they were meant to find each other again, and it was their granddaughter who helped to make it happen. Anson says that he must leave to meet Rory.

Soline and Anson go to the gallery to see Rory, where Anson shares that he has news about Hux. Through his connections and friends at the International Red Cross, Anson heard a tip about three people being escorted by armed guards in a village in Sudan, and the source turned out to be correct: Hux is alive. He will be returning to the US in a week. Rory is overjoyed and expresses her gratitude to Anson. She sees that Anson has transformed since their first meeting in San Francisco, now more a love-struck teenager than hardened man, and the two make amends for their difficult first encounter. Rory muses about what she should call her grandparents and looks forward to the wedding that she will share with Hux in the future. Soline calls Camilla to inform her of the happy developments, and Camilla will soon arrive at the gallery with Thia. Rory reflects on the impossible forces that brought them all together: “Such an inexplicable confluence of events. Lives intersected. Hearts reunited. Families mended […] and perhaps a touch of la magie” (393).

Soline prepares for her wedding. She looks out at the garden and sees her family waiting for her. She has designed her own wedding dress and stitched a charm into the seam. She thinks about Maman and the curse she was always told plagued the Roussel family. Soline decides that it is possible to break generational cycles by choosing a life for yourself outside of your family’s expectations and past suffering, concluding that “[t[here are no curses. Only patterns meant to be broken. Dreams chased. Hearts to hold. Magick to make” (396). The novel concludes as she walks down the aisle to Anson.