Fellowship Point

Polly is eager for her bridge game to be over so that she can return home to her husband, Dick. As she’s leaving the club, a woman approaches her who knows Polly’s son, James, reminding Polly that they met at James’s wife’s birthday party. The woman notes that she and her husband plan to house hunt on Fellowship Point. When Polly responds with confusion, certain that the Point has no houses on the Point are for sale, the woman quickly leaves.

Polly recalls a recent lunch with James. She brought up his plans to go to the Point that summer and the land trust that Agnes had proposed. James responded gruffly and then insisted that he had to return to his office. Polly fears that she’ll be caught in the middle if James refuses to give up his share of the land.

When Polly arrives at home, Dick wants to tell her something immediately, Dick, 82 and a professor of philosophy and ethics, is set to retire that spring. He tells Polly he has decided to revise a previous book called A Pacifist’s Primer, insisting that his theories never received the praise they deserved. He asks Polly to help him pull together documents and complete other tasks needed for the project. Polly eagerly accepts. Later, she finds a letter from the University, which Dick has already read, stating they won’t be able to award Dick emeritus status.

Maud leaves work, thinking of the proposal she submitted to her editor concerning a memoir by Agnes Lee. She walks to a daycare center, where she retrieves her three-year-old daughter, Clemmie, and then heads home. In the large house that Maud’s father purchased in the 1970s, Maud’s mother, Heidi, who has a mental illness, joins Maud and Clemmie. Heidi and Clemmie play in the garden while Maud cooks dinner. They eat at a table outside; afterward, Maud and Heidi discuss books. Maud tells her of the proposition for the Agnes Lee memoir, and they reminisce about the When Nan books. Maud is certain that a memoir will be an excellent accompaniment to the re-release of the series.

After both Clemmie and Heidi are in bed, Maud receives an email from her editor, David. He likes the idea of the memoir but reminds her that they’re a children’s imprint and can’t publish it. He suggests other avenues that Maud might pursue for the memoir, including contacting Agnes Lee directly. Maud thinks about it and then begins a letter to Agnes.

The Lee family spent summers in two of the five houses on the Point off the coast of Maine, on a peninsula named Cape Deel. William Lee first built on Fellowship Point. His family was wealthy, owning a factory in Philadelphia, but William didn’t see eye-to-eye with his capitalist older brother, Edgar. Both were Quakers, but William believed more firmly that all people deserve the opportunity to prosper. William took up conservationism, after his father. He visited Cape Deel in 1872 and purchased the 145-acre Point after discovering that it was a haven for many species of wildlife and plants. His idea was to establish a utopian community there, in which members would share in land ownership. He designed five houses, all identical to establish equality among the shareholders. His brother talked him out of this idea, so William made plans for five distinct houses and then conceived of separate houses for servants. William drafted bylaws and circulated them among shareholders for input. Each shareholder owned a specific house, which would pass to subsequent generations and couldn’t be sold to outsiders. Over time, many of the shareholder’s descendants became so loyal to the Point that they opted to be buried in a small cemetery there.

Agnes has breakfast and watches the ducks, who are prey to the gulls and dwindle in number each day. She has been in Maine for six weeks and has had the breast surgery but is still unable to write any of her novel. The night before, she met with Polly, who still hasn’t spoken with Dick about the land trust.

Agnes thinks of her mother, who never approved of Agnes’s decision not to marry. When younger, Agnes briefly courted a man named John Manning. When she began to feel unsettled in the relationship, she asked her sister, Elspeth, for advice, and Elspeth told her to end the relationship. Instead, Agnes redoubled her efforts with John. When he refused to engage sexually, however, Agnes broke off the engagement. Agnes thinks of Polly, frustrated that Dick carries out all of the decision-making for her. Agnes feels that he’s pretentious and unworthy of Polly.

From the window, Agnes sees two seagulls about to overtake a group of ducks and rushes outside to chase the gulls away. Robert arrives, and Agnes asks him what can be done about the gulls. They discuss the peninsula, and Agnes is upset upon learning that Robert will be spending much of his time putting in a garden for Seela Lee—the wife of Agnes’s cousin, Archie. She convinces Robert to walk with her to the Point’s sanctuary for wildlife (the “Sank”). Robert says he agrees with her plan to establish a land trust.

Polly waits for Robert to help with gardening. When he doesn’t appear, she heads to town to complete her shopping. As she exits the post office, she sees Robert being handcuffed by police. Polly rushes home via the fastest route but stops when she catches sight of a dog tied to a rope slung over a tree branch. Worried that the dog might harm itself, she attempts to coax it away by offering it some hamburger. The owner appears and yells at Polly to leave.

Polly arrives at Agnes’s to tell her about Robert. Agnes insists on calling the town manager. Polly rushes home to tell Dick about Robert; he, too, is in shock. He agrees to call Animal Control about the dog. As Polly makes lunch, Agnes calls with news that Seela Lee has accused Robert of stealing jewelry and an antique belt, which have been missing from the home for some time. The two women walk, and Agnes resolves to speak to a lawyer on Robert’s behalf. Polly tells her about the dog. When she returns, Dick is confused about where Polly has been.

The next morning, Agnes immediately drives to her cousin Archie Lee’s home. She thinks up a line, as she drives, that will be perfect for the book she has been trying to write, deciding, at last, that she has found a way to begin.

At EasterLee, one of Archie’s two homes on the Point, Agnes and Archie joke about aging but then discuss Seela’s accusations against Robert. Archie attests that he heard her scream in the driveway and then witnessed Robert holding Seela’s diamond necklace while Seela lay on the ground. Robert immediately handed the necklace to Archie while helping Seela from the ground. Agnes says the accusations make no sense, and she leaves, Archie still defending his wife.

Polly finds Agnes unpleasant company. She’s constantly upset about Robert’s incarceration. Due to a past conviction for marijuana possession, Robert was given a two-year sentence. Agnes seems to have forgotten about the land trust. Polly is grateful because her son, James, has made it clear that he doesn’t support the idea.

One night, Polly can’t sleep and lies awake, thinking of her regrets in life as well as each of her children. She recalls James being conceived there at Meadowlea. After his birth, Polly had difficulty adjusting: She wanted only to sleep and to be left alone. Over time, she adjusted, and James became a mischievous child whom she adored. Her second son, Knox, was a fussy baby. As the boys grow, Polly feels left out and longs for a daughter. However, she births a third boy by Cesarean, feeling that she has failed because she couldn’t deliver naturally. She contracts an infection and remains hospitalized. When Agnes visits, Polly confesses that she feels as if she’s being punished for wanting a girl. In the end, she feels closest to this third son, Theo.

Polly begins having dreams when Theo is an infant. She tells Dick about a philosophical insight she has during one dream, which he dismisses as unimportant. She realizes, as Agnes insisted, that he belittles her and likely always will.

Nevertheless, she decides to put her ideas down in writing. Polly writes an essay of sorts about the concept of soulmates, types it onto carbon paper, and then sends one set to Agnes. She mails the other set to Dick at the university so that he won’t suspect that she’s the author. Dick never mentions the essay, but Agnes sends a letter in which she praises it. She advises Polly, however, not to share the essay with Dick, certain that he’ll dismiss it.

Although Dick doesn’t wish to have any more children, Polly conceives again, miscarries, and then finally conceives again and gives birth to a daughter, Lydia. At age nine, however, Lydia contracts a fever and dies unexpectedly. In the years that follow, Polly sees Lydia’s ghost around the Point.

Polly’s four granddaughters arrange a surprise outing for Polly and Agnes: a whale-watching expedition. The mood is joyful and upbeat as they travel to the boat. The settle aboard, and Agnes and Polly stand in line to purchase snacks, talking about Dick and Robert. Polly is worried about Dick’s condition, noting that he writes to Robert every day and wishes to visit him. Agnes reminds her that Robert has forbidden anyone visiting him while he’s incarcerated.

They all enjoy the whale watching. The boat starts to return to shore, and the four young women head to the upper deck. Agnes and Polly start to follow, but Polly falls. Once they’re ashore, she’s taken to the hospital, where she’s learns she has a broken arm and a sprained ankle. The group returns to Meadowlea, only to find Dick in the front yard, confused, convinced that he’s late for a class and having wet himself. Agnes helps get him inside and then instructs the granddaughters to care for Polly before she leaves.

Three weeks after the accident, Polly is managing with the broken arm. Dick, however, seems to be in decline, waking up at four o’ clock each morning in a panic, wanting Polly to talk with him. Doctors insist that he’s physically healthy, despite occasional transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), or mini strokes. At times, he appears to be conversing with people who aren’t present, like his deceased parents. He tells Polly stories from his childhood and speaks about philosophy. Having his full attention, Polly begins to enjoy these times. He tells her of an odd moment when his mother, walking him home from school, waved strangely at a woman in an unfamiliar house. Dick never learned who the woman was.

One morning, he recalls meeting Polly and a trip they took with a group of young people to a beach house in New Jersey. Polly is delighted to hear the story, though Dick doesn’t seem to realize that she’s the Polly of his story. On another morning, she wakes to find him outside in the car, certain that he has just returned from visiting Robert. They eat breakfast outside on the terrace, and Dick talks of Archie and Seela and the injustice of Robert’s incarceration, becoming agitated. When Polly briefly brings up Agnes’s desire to create a land trust, Dick doesn’t recall hearing of it before. Suddenly, he crumples and falls to the ground. Polly tries to lift him but can’t and, seeing that he’s unconscious, calls 911. Paramedics arrive and go through the motions of reviving him, but Dick has passed away.

Paramedics contact Agnes, who helps Polly notify her sons. She remains with Polly for the day and then spends the night at Meadowlea.