Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of emotional abuse.

On the second night of their first year at the University of Chicago—in September 2011—Grace explains her family to Ruth. Ruth is the only child of a hardworking, unwed mother, and her grandmother raised her. Her mother saved enough to send her to the University of Florida, and when she got a full ride to Chicago, her mother bought a house. Ruth is brilliant, and she credits Mrs. Goldsmith, her high-school English teacher, for helping her reach her potential. Ruth and Grace do not look like their mothers, and their birthdays are exactly six months apart: Ruth’s is on the spring equinox, March 21, while Grace’s is on the autumn equinox, September 21. Ruth points out that, if it were Grace’s father who’d been absent, she’d have no complaints and think it was “natural.” She says Grace won the “Dad sweepstakes” while she won the best mom, and she compares Grace to Athena.

After Halloween, Lila tells Grace to invite Ruth to Tara for Thanksgiving. On the way, Grace explains about Frances, how she will insist on taking Ruth shopping and buying things for her. Lila describes Frances’s habit as bounty and not charity; she has a lot, so she gives a lot.