Content Warning: This section of the guide contains explicit descriptions of sexual violence, rape, domestic abuse, and murder, including the violent death of a child.



Anna makes plans to meet with Martin in Vermont. Before the trip, she calls Wendy about the anthology project. Wendy can’t promise that Macmillan will publish it, but she commends Anna for being so generous toward Jake’s students. After the call, Anna sits in her apartment and studies Jake’s old furniture. The table where Jake wrote Crib is the same table where she wrote The Afterword. She starts to wonder if she should sell the apartment and move elsewhere. She realizes she doesn’t have to be in New York and is financially secure enough to relocate. She decides to focus on Martin before making any decisions. She books a room at the Ripley Inn and makes a dinner reservation in anticipation of her trip. She dreads returning to Vermont.

Anna and Martin meet at the Ripley Inn. Then they take a tour of the town and the old Ripley campus, where Martin shows Anna Jake’s old classroom. The college is now defunct, so they can’t tour the other buildings, and they return to the inn instead.