63 pages • 2 hours read
Ann NapolitanoDear Edward
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPart 1, Chapters 3-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “9:05 A.M.”
The novel flashes back to Eddie’s flight. Florida watches Manhattan fade as she thinks back on her previous lives and marriages. Mark, the businessman, reminisces about time with his ex-girlfriend, who turned him down at a club the night before. He tries to make conversation with Jane, but she focuses on editing her screenplay. As she writes, she thinks about a recent call with Lacey in which “the exchange fogged up with bruised feelings and their long history of poking and prodding each other” (45). This difficult history will become relevant to Eddie’s relationship with Lacey.
Linda sneaks a pregnancy test into the bathroom after waiting in line next to Jordan. Crispin, meanwhile, thinks about his ex-wives as he becomes increasingly bitter toward his nurse. In the plane bathroom, Linda remembers many of her poor past decisions before meeting her current boyfriend, who she is moving to California to be with. Linda’s test reveals she is pregnant.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “July 2013”
Eddie, now going by Edward, learns that he will be staying in the unused nursery at Lacey and John’s house. Lacey has suffered several miscarriages, and Edward’s discomfort causes him to sleep on the couch. His physical pain starts to get worse, as does a clicking sound that he hears at seemingly random times.
Lacey’s neighbors, Besa and her daughter, Shay, visit Lacey and Edward. Shay recalls briefly meeting Jordan when she was younger. This thin connection prompts Edward to sneak out of the house that night to visit Shay. She is wary of Edward, who falls asleep immediately after sitting in a chair in her room.
At a doctor’s appointment, Edward learns that he needs to recover the weight he has lost. The only foods he can bear to eat are those with connections to his family, such as Jordan’s favorite candy bar. When he eats, each bite brings memories of his family. Finally, Edward “wills himself to remember nothing, think nothing, until all that exists is a flatness […] he now identifies as himself” (61). The pain of his loss is changing how Edward perceives his own identity.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “10:02 A.M.”
Bruce reflects on his first flight as a child and the ways his sons are changing; Jordan is becoming rebellious, and Edward is starting to mimic him. Bruce’s relationship with Jane is also rocky because she looks down on his chosen career.
Jordan returns from the restroom and daydreams about a girl he was secretly dating in Manhattan who worked at a local convenience store. Across the aisle, Benjamin worries about the desk job he’ll get after an upcoming surgery. An enemy shot Benjamin while he was on patrol after a fight with a friend named Gavin. Knowing he’ll be assigned to a desk, Benjamin hopes to die during his surgery.
While talking to Linda, Florida recalls a past life in which she cared for Filipino revolutionaries. It is one of many past lives that Florida believes she can remember.
Part 1, Chapters 3-5 Analysis
The past consumes the characters in Dear Edward. In this section of the novel, two of the sections take place on the plane; in each, the passengers reflect on relationships that have either ended or grown stale. This focus on the past keeps them isolated from one another in the moment. Fear of the future even causes Benjamin to have suicidal thoughts.
Florida is the only character who seems immune to this fear; while she does reflect on her own life, she does so in the context of her belief in reincarnation. While her rebirth is, in her mind, a physical one, rebirth as a theme runs throughout the novel. Edward’s inability to accept his new life after the crash is his central conflict; he becomes stagnant by refusing to be reborn. This shows itself literally when Edward is unwilling to sleep in a room meant to be a nursery.
The nursery is a major symbol in the novel. Not only does it represent Lacey and John’s own inability to move from the past, but it also highlights Edward’s role in their lives. He arrives as a surrogate child for the couple; his disinterest in filling that role mimics Lacey’s inability to bring her pregnancies to term. Nurseries are often associated with growth and optimism, but Napolitano flips that expectation by using the nursery as a constant reminder of grief.
Throughout his journey, Edward’s love for Jordan plays a large role in preventing his emotional healing. Shay’s short interaction with Jordan years before is enough for Edward to feel an instant attachment to Shay, illustrated by his inability to sleep anywhere other than in her bedroom. The thinnest connections to Jordan comfort Edward.
This is also true of the candy bar he chooses at the store. Edward’s love for his sibling is dichotomous: it prompts his first steps toward healing, but it does so in a way that prevents Edward from moving forward as an individual. His loss even defines his healing. Lacey will follow the same pattern later; in assuming some of Jane’s roles and aspects, she will find both strength and pain.
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By Ann Napolitano
