44 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth LettsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
In the earlier timeline, Maud gives birth to their second child, Robert. She develops sepsis, and it nearly kills her. The doctors and her family save her, but her recovery takes so long that she becomes a stranger to her family. Her firstborn hesitates to be around her, and her newborn doesn’t know her at all. She can no longer have children.
Frank becomes stifled living in New York. They decide to move to Dakota, where there will be more opportunities and Maud can be closer to her sister.
In the later timeline, Judy struggles to maintain her composure while filming a scene with Bert Lahr, who plays the Cowardly Lion—she cannot get through the scene without laughing. The director slaps her to get her attention, and Maud reprimands him for it. The director agrees he should not have slapped Judy, but the scene needed to be filmed. After filming is done for the day, Arthur Freed, the assistant director, thanks Maud for stepping in; Maud says it was her duty and asks for a script.
The next day, Maud goes to Freed’s office to get the script, where she finds him with another film star on his lap. His secretary escorts Maud out.
By Elizabeth Letts