60 pages • 2 hours read
Still Me
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Chapters 29-34Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 29 Summary
On Mrs. De Witt’s insistence, she, Louisa, and Dean Martin take a trip together to Montauk. They stay in a hotel Mrs. De Witt used to frequent every summer for decades when she was younger. While there, Louisa finally calls and tells her parents the truth about the Gopniks; her parents are loving and supportive and call her “wise” and “brave” and tell her they are proud of her. On their last night there, Mrs. De Witt and Louisa have an extravagant dinner on Mrs. De Witt’s assertion that this will probably be her last time visiting. Mrs. De Witt also tells Louisa she did the right thing by breaking up with Josh, and Louisa realizes that if she had stayed with him, she would have “molded [herself] to fit him” (413).
Weeks pass after Louisa and Mrs. De Witt return from Montauk; Louisa continues caring for Mrs. De Witt and Dean Martin and continues to work at the vintage clothes store. She also attends the library marches every Saturday, though the numbers of marchers have been dwindling, as local residents are losing hope. Louisa comes home one day to find that Mrs. De Witt’s son Frank is visiting. He and his wife Laynie want to take Mrs. De Witt to live with them in Tuckahoe. Louisa is upset, but Mrs. De Witt is thrilled to spend what little time she has left with her family; however, they won’t take Dean Martin, so she asks Louisa to take the dog.
Mrs. De Witt leaves the apartment two weeks later, and Louisa stays behind as caretaker along with Dean Martin. Mrs. De Witt leaves behind a letter for Louisa thanking her for everything and passing on her entire wardrobe to her. She suggests Louisa set up an agency to rent out or sell the items. Louisa spends the next few days organizing and cleaning the wardrobe.
One of those days, Michael arrives at the door with a message that Mr. Gopnik has summoned her to his office. Mr. Gopnik reveals that he knows about Agnes’s child, thanks to a private investigator hired by Tabitha; he knows the truth about the money now and wants to make amends to Louisa. Louisa turns down his substantially improved job offers; instead, she makes an alternate demand, to which he agrees. When Louisa returns home, Ashok hands her a letter from Sam.
Chapter 30 Summary
The chapter opens with the letter from Sam, in which he reveals he is not with Katie and that he regrets losing Louisa.
Louisa emails Sam asking why he would send such a letter now; he replies immediately by telling her that Lily had told him Josh made an elaborate proposal, and she was thinking of marrying him. He apologizes for the inappropriateness of his letter and says he only wanted Louisa to know he was sorry.
Another letter from Sam arrives three days later—Lily has been telling him Josh does big, romantic gestures for Louisa, and Sam has been wondering if he did things wrong with Louisa the whole time. Louisa responds that she never wanted anything grand from Sam.
The next letter from Sam details how he didn’t honor Louisa’s request to write to her because he felt too self-conscious, especially as her new life seemed to get fancier. He has been losing sleep over the thought of Louisa marrying Josh and asks her not to rush things or even marry Josh at all. Louisa replies a few days later and tells Sam she is no longer with Josh.
Chapter 31 Summary
The chapter opens with a letter from Sam in response to Louisa’s news about her breakup with Josh; he wants to know if she is okay but is also thrilled she isn’t with Josh anymore.
Sam continues to send Louisa frequent letters, and she writes back to them all. They exchange news and details about their lives in an intimate way, and Louisa eventually tells Sam she misses him. Worried about setting herself up for heartbreak again, Louisa shows Meena one of Sam’s letters; Meena thinks Sam is still deeply in love with Louisa and worth the risk.
Nathan and Ilaria visit Louisa, and Ilaria tells her that Agnes’s daughter and sister are coming to visit. Laynie sends Louisa a letter with an update on Mrs. De Witt—despite her worsening condition, Laynie and Frank don’t want to move her to a medical care facility, so she will stay on with them.
Ashok tells Louisa the library has been saved. An anonymous donation gives them funding for the next 10 years, and the library will be renamed the “William Traynor Memorial Library” (451). Louisa is thrilled, especially since she had only asked Mr. Gopnik for five years’ worth of funding.
Chapter 32 Summary
The chapter opens with a letter from Sam. He asks Louisa for her plans now that she has been in New York for almost a year and offers her his place as a base for her clothes agency then asks her to move in with him.
Louisa rereads another letter from Will to his mother that delivers the news he has gotten a job in London and is coming back for good. She then replies to Sam’s letter that she is not ready to leave New York yet. She’s opening up her vintage clothes rental agency called “Bee’s Knees” in the city and setting up in the corner of the vintage clothes store. Instead of her moving in with Sam in England, she asks him to move to New York and live with her. To communicate his response, she asks for a grand gesture. She will be at the top of the Rockefeller center at 7pm on July 25, and if his answer is yes, then he should be there too.
Chapter 33 Summary
Louisa sees Agnes once more before she leaves the Lavery; they run into each other in the lobby, and Agnes has her daughter with her. The girl smiles at Louisa, and she smiles back; when Agnes sees this, she almost smiles too, but she then gives Louisa a faint nod before leaving the building.
Chapter 34 Summary
The chapter opens with an email from Louisa’s mother gushing about a New York newspaper article featuring the vintage clothes store and Louisa. Louisa’s parents are also coming to visit her in New York in the summer.
Louisa arrives at the Rockefeller Center on July 25th at a quarter to seven; however, the lines to the top are extremely long. Beginning to run late, Louisa explains about her romantic meeting to as many people as she can and jumps the queue whenever possible. She searches the three different levels of the observation deck and finally reaches the top at almost half-past seven. Sam is waiting for her.
Chapters 29-34 Analysis
The final set of chapters focus on Louisa’s personal and professional vindication. The former is achieved as Sam finally begins communicating with her in a manner she had originally requested. Despite originally being driven to write frequently to her because he assumed she is about to marry Josh, this misunderstanding is quickly cleared up, and their communication continues past it. Sam and Louisa’s new mode of openly and consistently communicating with each other puts them in good stead, as their understanding of each other deepens, and they grow closer than ever before.
It is not only Louisa and Sam’s relationship that benefits from communication. Through Vincent, Mrs. De Witt is reunited with her son Frank and his wife Laynie. Frank and Laynie want to take Mrs. De Witt back home with them, especially since she doesn’t seem to have much time left. Mrs. De Witt chooses to go with them, which leaves Louisa heartbroken and reveals how close the two women have become. In a complete turnaround of Louisa’s first interaction with Dean Martin, which saw him biting her, she now takes on his care and is grateful for his company; this symbolizes the trajectory of Louisa’s relationship with Mrs. De Witt throughout the book.
Louisa’s professional life also sees a satisfying conclusion. Even before Mrs. De Witt’s departure with her son, she had been finding her rhythm in the city afresh, with work she enjoys and friends she is genuinely close to. Mrs. De Witt’s bequest of her wardrobe to Louisa, however, becomes a cherry on top. It affords Louisa the freedom to carve out her own path doing something she is passionate about. Additionally, Mr. Gopnik asks to make amends with Louisa upon discovering the truth about Agnes’s daughter, which ties up that thread of the story as well. Louisa’s reputation is restored, and true to her character she does not look to gain anything personally from Mr. Gopnik; instead, she asks for the library to be saved and renamed after Will.
Thus, Will’s presence continues to be felt in the story. However, it is a mark of true growth that Louisa chooses a path different than the one he originally did with respect to New York. She reads his letter describing his choice of returning to England and the joy it gives him; however, rather than be swayed to move back home and be with Sam, the letters urge her to pay attention to what she really wants. For perhaps the first time, Louisa recognizes what will make her happy independent of everyone and everything else. She chooses to stay and asks Sam to join her. Sam, too, has grown, and free of all the obligation and memories that had been keeping him in England, he chooses to join Louisa in New York and start a new life together.
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