The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Chapter 14: September 1977 Summary & Analysis

At a party for Phoebe’s confirmation, Caroline takes pictures of her daughter and their guests using a Polaroid camera. A summer storm is gathering in the distance, but for now, the weather is beautiful. Phoebe, now thirteen, runs and plays with her neighborhood friends—including the eight-year-old Avery, who plays with a stray kitten, and Sandra’s son Tim. Phoebe runs around the party shouting “I’m confirmed!” and hugging and kissing her guests. As Phoebe has grown older, Caroline has had to help her reign in her exuberance and affection, reminding her that hugs are just for friends and family.

A three-layer cake stands on a table at the center of the party, and its three layers represent all that Caroline, Phoebe, and their extended family are celebrating to day: Phoebe’s confirmation, Caroline and Al’s wedding anniversary, and Doro’s retirement—she is leaving soon to travel the world with her new beau Trace. In preparation for her departure, Doro has given Caroline the deed to the house they’ve shared for years. Al doesn’t know the good news yet—he still works as a trucker, and only comes home on the weekends—and Caroline is planning to tell him after the party.

Phoebe brings Avery’s cat over to Caroline and asks if they can get one of their own. Caroline reminds Phoebe that Doro is allergic, and Phoebe’s mercurial temper threatens to explode. To calm her, Al suggests they get the kitten a dish of cream. As they walk away together, Caroline looks around at all her guests and thinks about how beautiful and unexpected her life has become. She feels as if she, too, has been “confirmed” today—all her hard work is paying off.

The party lasts until late into the evening. As Doro and Caroline clean up the yard, Doro remarks that leaving is bittersweet—she’s going to miss her life in Pittsburgh. Caroline reminds Doro that she has an early flight in the morning, and the women hug goodbye before Doro leaves with Trace. Caroline tells Doro that she saved her life years ago—Doro says Caroline did the same for her.

After Doro and Trace leave, Caroline and Al sit together on the porch, and Caroline tells Al that Doro has given them the deed to the house. She expects Al to be excited, but instead he expresses a kind of envy at Doro and Trace’s chance to get out of Pittsburgh and explore the world. Caroline replies that she doesn’t have the “urge” to travel anymore, and privately wonders whether she doesn’t really know Al at all.

Al tells Caroline that Phoebe is growing up—she’s thirteen, and soon she’ll want more independence. Al suggests that at a certain point, he and Caroline will want their own lives, as well. Caroline feels weary, unable to think so far into the future—or imagine living a life without her daughter around her. Caroline asks if they can return to the discussion later, and Al says they can.

Caroline says that she wants to talk to Al about a letter she received this week—a letter from Phoebe’s father. Caroline describes the letter, which asked to meet Phoebe and “make amends.” Caroline takes Al’s hand and says she wants to tell him the whole story—the true story—about Phoebe. Caroline at last tells Al about David Henry’s request that Caroline bring Phoebe to an institution in the countryside, and about her inability to follow through with it. She apologizes for not having told Al the truth earlier, but he insists he understands. He says that whatever Caroline decides to do about David’s request, he’ll support her. Together they head inside and go up to bed as the rain begins to fall.

The next morning, it is still raining. At breakfast, Phoebe remarks that it’s raining cats and dogs—and then asks Caroline, again, if they can get a cat. Caroline tells her no, but Phoebe will not drop the issue. Caroline yells at Phoebe, warning her not to mention cats again. Phoebe says she wants to go outside on the porch and watch the rain, and Caroline says she can go. Caroline feels bad for losing her patience, and knows that she’s just distressed about the letter from David.

Caroline begins composing a letter back to David, but pauses as she does. She feels guilty for being confused about David’s desire to meet his daughter—with all the detailed letters and photos she’s sent over the years, how could she have expected, she wonders, that anything else might happen? Unable to think about David any longer, she pushes the letter aside, pays some bills, and drinks some more coffee. As the rain begins to fall harder, she peeks out onto the front porch—Phoebe is not there.

Caroline runs out to the street, where some neighbor-children are playing. She asks if they’ve seen Phoebe, and they tell her that Avery’s cat has run away—Avery and Phoebe have gone into the woods to find it. Caroline rushes into the forest and soon finds Avery crouching at the edge of a huge drain pipe. Avery explains that the cat ran into the drain pipe—and Phoebe has gone in after it. Caroline crawls inside and quickly feels Phoebe in front of her—she urges her daughter to come home, but Phoebe is determined to get the cat. Caroline promises Phoebe that she can have the cat if she follows her out, saying what Phoebe wants to hear out of desperation to get through to her.

Caroline and Phoebe emerge from the drainpipe, soaked and freezing. Phoebe clutches the cat in her hands. Across the street, Caroline sees the mailman walking up to the house. Full of fear and anger, she decides not to write to David again—she believes he wants “too much from her […] too late.”