My Beloved World: Chapter 27 Summary & Analysis

In 1986, Sonia finds herself in the parking lot where the World Series is being played. She’s on the back of a motorcycle, chasing a truck full of counterfeit Mets gear. She goes back in time to explain how she got there. Once she finishes Bob Morgenthau’s difficult cases, she quits. She doesn’t want to get stuck in a large firm working as an underling, and the tiny firm Pavia & Harcourt stands out. It represents clients like Fendi and Ferrari, and two of the nine partners are women. Best of all, associates work directly with partners in mentoring relationships. Sonia knows she’ll learn and advance. Sonia interviews many times and learns that George Pavia fears that she’ll be bored and move on. She convinces him otherwise.

Sonia’s first cases as a beginning associate are eclectic, but they draw on Sonia’s skills as a prosecutor. A few days into the job, a colleague who hears Sonia’s phone calls spreads the world that Sonia is “one tough bitch.” This shakes Sonia, but she realizes that at the DA’s Office, she learned to be abrasive. She sees just how different private practice is when Dave Botwinik assures Sonia that she can accept gifts from clients. Sonia goes to Dave for guidance; he’s comforting and extremely honorable. He always observes the unspoken rules of being a lawyer, and he teaches Sonia about the grain trade.

Over the years, Sonia learned to never reveal that she can type—making that public means she’ll end up an informal secretary. She types in front of Dave once, but he stands up for women in the office. Fran Bernstein rises above all of this and types for hours, writing elegant prose with no need to edit. Though she intimidates Sonia at first, she soon becomes a friend and a mentor. Sonia is shocked the first time that Fran asks her to write a brief, as Sonia’s writing is still subpar. Fran graciously accepts the brief and encourages Sonia. Sonia only resists Fran in one regard: Fran encourages Sonia to register as a Republican in order to associate with power. Sonia admires Republican economic policy, but she dislikes their social views. She remains an independent.

One day, Fran asks what Sonia knows about designer handbags and introduces her to the world of Fendi. Fran works in intellectual property, which is a new field at this time. Fake Gucci, Fendi, and Rolex products are all over Manhattan’s streets, and Fran understands the danger of not protecting a trademark. Fendi is the first to appreciate Fran’s attempts, as a large retail chain begins to sell knockoff Fendi bags. She asks for Sonia’s help in prosecuting the retail chain. One afternoon, while Fran is preparing witnesses, she leaves Sonia in charge while she takes a phone call. As a prosecutor, Sonia got good at preparing witnesses. As she works with one witness, she realizes that Fran is standing behind her. Later, Fran suggests to Alessandro, the Fendi family lawyer who acts as an interpreter, to ask his uncle to allow Sonia to take the case to court.

With this, Sonia’s friendship with the Fendi family begins. Fran gives Sonia the case not just because she’s generous, but because Pavia & Harcourt believes in collaboration. Sonia attempts to be just as generous with young associates and becomes more attentive to how others see her. It’s sometimes difficult—when the firm hires Theresa Bartenope as a secretary, Sonia convinces Theresa to work as her paralegal instead. Theresa always appears when Sonia calls looking terrified and finally, someone tells Sonia that Theresa is afraid of Sonia’s brisk demeanor. In reality, Sonia simply stops noticing social cues when she’s busy. It made her a good prosecutor, but Theresa encourages Sonia to be kind and to pay attention.

The Fendi case with the retailer is settled mid-trial, but Sonia works closely with Fran on intellectual property cases. She says that litigation isn’t effective, however, when there are so many counterfeit goods in the street. Trademark owners join together to apply for court orders allowing Pavia & Harcourt to seize counterfeit goods. Sonia works with private investigators to track down manufacturing points and helps Fran work up an affidavit. The investigative work is thrilling. Sonia joins their private investigator on raids to ensure everything is done right. Once, they discover a building filled with hundreds of counterfeit handbags. Sonia sends an associate to file the affidavit, and young Asian guys surround him at the courthouse asking ominously for Sonia. Sonia finds it ironic that she’s in more danger representing luxury goods than she ever was prosecuting murderers.

Two years after Sonia begins working with Fran, Fran’s breast cancer returns. Fran continues to guide Sonia over the phone as she receives treatment. In Sonia’s fourth year at the firm, Fran comes into the office for the first time in months to vote for Sonia to become a partner. She takes Sonia to dinner that night and shares that Sonia will become a partner. Later that evening, Fran insists that Sonia needs to upgrade her wardrobe to properly represent Fendi. Sonia knows this isn’t true; she’s already good friends with Alessandro and eventually helps him and his wife, Fe, move to New York. Sonia loves that Fendi is a family business, and she learns about wealth as she vacations with them in Europe. Most important, though, is Sonia’s friendship with Alessandro—his parents have been to Thanksgiving at Mami’s.