A Corner of the Universe

On her first day of summer vacation, Hattie makes breakfast for Miss Hagerty and organizes things for Cookie, who arrives early to cook for the other boardinghouse residents. Cookie compliments Hattie on her diligence, but Hattie’s mom suggests Hattie should instead be more social. Hurt, Hattie takes Miss Hagerty’s breakfast to her room, which is filled with perfume bottles and sewing paraphernalia. Miss Hagerty has lived at the boardinghouse since before Hattie was born; she considers Hattie her granddaughter. Hattie wishes Miss Hagerty were her grandmother instead of Nana, who is critical of Hattie’s dad for being an artist and not having a “real” job. Hattie worries about being shy. She imagines herself as a love interest of the fictional TV teenager Dobie Gillis. After the other boarders, Mr. Penny, a retired clock repairman, and Angel Valentine, an ambitious young bank secretary, leave after breakfast, Hattie visits her dad’s third-floor studio. Hattie admires his creativity: He paints, makes animated movies, and develops his own photos. Dad tells Hattie that Nana is visiting for lunch, but Hattie hopes to avoid her. 

Hattie loves her small hometown of Millerton. Everyone knows everybody’s business and Hattie never needs to tell her mom where she is going. Hattie says goodbye to her one friend, Betsy McGruder, whose family spends every summer in Maine. Betsy’s family always invites Hattie to join them, but Hattie always refuses, just like she declines Nana’s offers to pay for summer camp. Hattie prefers staying in Millerton where everything is safe and routine. Hattie walks the same route through Millerton almost daily during the summer. Her family’s boarding house is the third largest home in the city. After they married, her parents bought it and fixed it up. There are significant differences between their house and Nana and Papa’s mansion. At Hattie’s house, her mom works with Cookie and Toby, the cleaning lady; her dad works in the gardens, and they drive an old car. At Nana’s home, servants do all the work, and Nana and Papa drive a new car. Downtown, Hattie excitedly notices flyers advertising a traveling carnival. Returning home, she finds Nana chatting with her mother.

Immaculately groomed, Nana looks askance at Hattie in her shorts and sandals. Mom tells Hattie to brush her hair before lunch. Hattie does not understand why her mother gives in to Nana’s small pressures, when she was able to stand firm on big decisions like whom she married and where she lives. Miss Hagerty, Mr. Penny, and Dad—ignoring Nana’s critical look at his messy shirt—join them for lunch. Nana’s presence makes the meal awkward: Everyone is self-conscious about manners. Hattie thinks Nana is visiting for some ulterior motive and believes it involves the cryptic comment Hattie overheard: Nana mentioned “the death of Hayden”—possibly Hattie’s Uncle Hayden, or Papa Hayden. Nana announces that the Summer Cotillion dance for 11–12-year-olds will be the day before Hattie’s birthday. Hattie is horrified. She was humiliated at last summer’s dance when her classmates Nancy O’Neil and Janet White made fun of her. Miss Hagerty offers to make Hattie a dress. Hattie plans to tell her privately that she won’t need one.

Hattie enjoys her long afternoon, helping around the boardinghouse, reading, and painting with her dad. After dinner, Dad interrupts the summertime tradition of lemonade on the porch, calling Hattie inside for a serious talk. Mom anxiously reveals that she and her brother Hayden have a younger brother they’ve never told Hattie about: Adam. Adam is 21 years old and has been living at a “special school” in Ohio since he was 12. In hushed voices, Mom and Dad say that Adam has “mental problems,” maybe autism or schizophrenia. They did not tell Hattie about Adam before because they did not want her to worry and they did not think it was important for her to know. Now, Adam’s school is closing, and he must live with Nana and Papa until they find a new school. Hattie is frustrated that her parents do not directly answer her questions. Later, Hattie secretly explores old photo albums in the parlor and finds pictures of Adam. He smiled for the camera as a young boy, but as he aged, would not smile or look at the camera.