Tar Baby

On Isle des Chevaliers, nature is disturbed to build winter homes for wealthy vacationers, the most beautiful of which is L’Arbe de la Croix. The house is owned and inhabited by Valerian Street, a retired white man from Philadelphia who spends most of his time playing classical music for the plants in his greenhouse. His wife, Margaret, occasionally returns to Philadelphia, unhappy with life on the island, although she and their Black butler, Sydney, coordinate the household. She refuses to commit to the island until she knows whether their stay will be permanent.

One morning, Valerian is complaining to Sydney about what is changing as he grows older. His appetite is inconsistent, and his feet hurt. He is also plagued by the knowledge that his wife is unwilling to stay with him on the island. Sydney informs him that Margaret is expecting luggage, a red trunk with “Dick Gregory for President” stickers, meaning that their son, Michael, is on his way. Margaret joins her husband for breakfast, complains about the menu, and assures Valerian that Michael and a friend are coming for Christmas.

Margaret plans to return with Michael to the US and live near him. She is sick of living in two places and wants to settle. Valerian makes her promise not to follow their son unless Michael agrees to it. Margaret tells him that she will leave Jadine, Sydney’s niece, with him, and says Jadine hopes to open a store once she is done working as a fashion model. Before they go their separate ways for the day, Valerian and Margaret argue over what to have for Christmas dinner, and Margaret wins, deciding on turkey and pies.

In the kitchen, Ondine, Sydney’s wife, complains about how Margaret ruined Michael and asserts that he won’t come because he doesn’t want to be near his mother. Jadine joins her aunt and uncle, and Ondine, always spoiling Jadine, makes her a hot chocolate, praising her for her time working as a fashion model in Paris. Ondine finds less chocolate than expected and believes someone is stealing chocolate and bottled water from the second kitchen.

Yardman, a local man who keeps the grounds neat, arrives. When the Streets need more help, or if there is a party, Yardman brings one of the Marys, one of the women in his family whom Ondine believes all look the same. None of the locals will work inside and instead do all the washing outside at the washhouse. Yardman does odd jobs around the house and is very dependable. He cannot read, and Ondine must read the list of chores to him. 

Night falls at L’Arbe de la Croix, and while Sydney and Ondine sleep soundly, Valerian cannot sleep. He is not alone in his restlessness, as Jadine wakes from a dream and remembers what brought her to the island. She was living in Paris and was just chosen for the cover of Elle and earned her degree in art history. She goes to the supermarket to buy supplies for a celebratory party and is struck, like all the customers, by the beauty of a woman in a yellow dress. The woman, despite protests from the clerk, buys only three eggs and walks from the store. Jadine, entranced, follows the woman on the other side of the window, and when the woman in the yellow dress notices her, she turns and spits at Jadine. Jadine, rattled, comes to the island to be with her family and the Streets and to consider her next steps in life. She does have a marriage proposal from a man in Paris, Ryk, but she suspects he only wants to marry her because she is Black.

Meanwhile, Valerian sits up and thinks of what it took to get to the island after retiring. His family owned a candy factory, and as the only male grandchild, he was destined to take over. His uncles, who ran the company before him, named a candy after him. Valerians are white and red gumdrops with mint and strawberry flavors. The candy is not a hit, and after seeing the impact of sentimentality on his uncles, Valerian commits to retiring at the age of 65. Throughout his time at the company, he has ups and downs. He gets married and divorced and even sees some military service before meeting Margaret. When he sees Margaret in a winter parade in Maine, she is dressed in red and white as Miss Maine, and he sees it as a sign. He marries her, and they have a son, Michael. When Michael shows no interest in the company, Valerian sells it and moves to the island home where he always vacationed. Michael shows no interest in Valerian, and in response, Valerian has a greenhouse built to occupy his time.

Margaret is only half asleep, wrapped in anxious ruminations. She was born with red hair, the only member of her family with such hair, and to prove his wife’s fidelity, her father brings his two red-haired, distant great-aunts to Maine from Buffalo, New York. Her family ostracizes her, leaving her alone and making it easy for her to leave them once she marries Valerian. She struggles at first to adjust to Valerian’s life of luxury, and early in their marriage, a woman even pats Margaret’s belly and tells her to get to work. She strikes up a friendship with Valerian’s cook, Ondine (Sydney’s wife), who is of a similar age, but Valerian scolds her for being “too familiar” with their servants. It is their first fight as a married couple, and Valerian wins it. Her relationship with Ondine deteriorates, but she soon has a baby, Michael, and loves him more than anything. In her present life, she finds herself forgetting everyday objects, and hopes that a reunion with Michael will help.

Across the house, Ondine’s nightmare of sinking in water ends when she rolls over and in her sleep touches Sydney, who dreams of his first home, Baltimore. He never remembers this dream, but it refreshes him each day, nonetheless. 

At dinner, Margaret is nervous she will forget social graces and draws Valerian’s ire when she takes too long to eat her soup. Jadine brings up Christmas plans, and Valerian and Margaret begin fighting over Michael. Margaret also invited Michael’s former teacher as a present, but Valerian believes that Michael will not come, standing them up like he has before. Witnessing their argument, Jadine believes the fighting has grown too severe. The tension rises as Margaret brings up Valerian’s sister’s treatment of her, not inviting them to a family wedding and implying that Margaret was promiscuous. Valerian doesn’t defend Margaret or commiserate with her, and in protest, Margaret storms out of the dining room.

Valerian tells Jadine that Margaret is nervous that Michael won’t come but that he is nervous Michael will. They reminisce about Michael, with Valerian being critical while Jadine is forgiving over comments Michael once made about what Black people should do with their lives and communities. Valerian believes Michael is a loser who pressured Jadine summers ago to live a different life and even offered her, Sydney, and Ondine help in getting started with a new life of handicraft and barter. Valerian assures Jadine that he loves Michael but never thought Margaret did because she was so hot and cold with Michael when he was a child. Valerian says he would find Michael under the sink at times, singing to himself and looking for something soft. He would try interrupting Margaret’s obsessive love for Michael, but it only turned the child against him. He believes Margaret is finally ready to be Michael’s mother and that that is why she wants to go back to the US with Michael.

Margaret comes flying back into the dining room, screaming. She cannot be comforted and says that someone is in her closet and says “Black.” As Ondine and Jadine try to calm her down, Sydney goes to search and returns with a stranger, leading him by gunpoint into the dining room. Valerian offers the stranger a drink.