Shopping Cart

Home / APS Together / Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles | Day 4

 

APS TOGETHER

Day 4

Chapter 2, pp. 63-83 (through “Oh, I’d love to Pacifica,” said Mrs. Copperfield, running out of the room.”)

December 6, 2020 by Claire Messud

In Panama City, Mrs. C says to Mr. C, “I feel so lost and so far away and so frightened…” [p.64] Pacifica & Mrs. Quill are her nest in the Godless world. Suffering a sort of spiritual agoraphobia, she longs for the security of the Hotel de las Palmas.


For Mrs. C, “A little spot of gin” offers comfort: “At a certain point gin takes everything off your hands and you flop around like a little baby.” Bowles too liked a drink – a respite from the relentless effort of living authentically.


“Mrs. Copperfield sensed that Pacifica was proud of her. She realized that all this time Pacifica had been waiting to show her to her friends and she was not so sure that she was pleased.” Friendship has its economy; disconcerting when it’s not as one had thought.

Daily Reading

Day 1

Chapter 1, p. 1-18 (through “She was not sure that she did not find him a bit too familiar.”)

Day 2

Finish Chapter 1

Day 3

Chapter 2, p. 37-62 (through “The other two women looked across the street and they all watched him disappear.”)

Day 4

Chapter 2, pp. 63-83 (through “Oh, I’d love to Pacifica,” said Mrs. Copperfield, running out of the room.”)

Day 5

Chapter 2, pp. 83-102 (from “When Mrs. Copperfield arrived in Mrs. Quill’s room" through “Mrs. Quill was dignified and remote and did not give her the lavish thanks which she had been expecting.”)

Day 6

Finish Chapter 2, pp. 102-121 (from “Early the next morning Mrs. Copperfield and Pacifica were together in Pacifica’s bedroom" through “Listen, your pal’s been out of the room two whole minutes already. She’s gone to look for Pacifica.")

Day 7

Chapter 3, pp. 123-142 (through “She held her hand over her heart and smiled to herself.”)

Day 8

Chapter 3, pp 142-158 (from “When she arrived at the tip of the island" through “something would happen to interfere with her departure.”)

Day 9

Chapter 3, pp. 159-176 (from “She noticed with a faint hear” through “shortly she fell into a deep sleep.”)

Day 10

Chapter 3, pp. 176-196 (from “At about five thirty on the following afternoon" through “Then all three of them politely bade good-by to Andy’s back and left the room.”)

Day 11

Chapter 3, pp. 196-210 (from “Arnold’s father had been sitting in the ice-cream parlor" through “He’s never going to listen to me,” Miss Goering said to herself.")

Day 12

Finish Chapter 3, pp. 211-End

Sign up for A Public Space's Newsletter