50 pages • 1 hour read
Magic Hour: A Novel
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Chapters 6-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary
When the press arrives at the police station, Ellie describes the girl and tells them that they will receive sketches since a photograph is not available. The girl has not spoken yet, so they do not know her name.
In the car, Max asks Julia if she has drawn any conclusions about the girl. Julia thinks she may be selectively not speaking. As they near the station, Julia sees news vans in the street and panics. She tells Max that she cannot let the press see her, especially with the scratches on her face. Max tells Julia to wait in the church across the street, and he will send Ellie to get her.
Later, Julia gets angry at Ellie for holding a press conference without warning her. Ellie apologizes, and Julia tells her to call social services to get Julia approved to watch the girl; she will have to watch her constantly if she is going to make progress. Ellie takes Julia to the library, where she researches cases like the girl’s. She finds studies on “feral children,” describing how abandoned children in the woods became self-sufficient without human contact. Even though psychiatrists treated these children, the psychiatrists left to publish papers on their observations, and the children never left the mental health facilities. Julia hates that these doctors used the children for their careers and promises herself that she will not let this happen to the girl.
Chapter 7 Summary
Ellie tells Peanut to call a town meeting at the church. At the hospital, Max watches Julia work with the girl. She sings until the girl falls asleep, then leaves the room.
She and Max walk to the cafeteria, where they sit and talk. Max is frustrated by Julia’s insinuations about his dating life, mainly because he does not know how she can see through him so easily. He tells her that he used to be married but that he does not have kids. Julia talks about the difficulty she is having with the girl and her career. Max replies that sometimes life is hard, and it does not get easier.
Chapter 8 Summary
Julia drives past the lumber yard on her way to Ellie’s house. She thinks about how her father was a lumber cutter his whole life and that they knew the job would eventually kill him. As she goes into the house, she thinks about how her mother would sit by her bed at night, crying about her father. Julia could never trust her father after what her mother said about him, but her mother never talked to Ellie about that.
At the town meeting, Ellie says the community needs to protect Julia and the girl from the media. She says that the girl will stay at her house, where Julia can help her properly. She wants the town to lie to the media about the girl’s location. The townspeople promise to protect them.
Chapter 9 Summary
Max sedates the girl and helps Julia and Ellie move her to Ellie’s house. Julia tells them that they need to put bars on the windows so she can see outside but cannot escape. Julia hides a camera in the room, and they bring in tall plants so that the girl feels that the room is like a forest.
Ellie fends off the press at the police station, refusing to answer questions. Mort, a journalist from the Rain Valley Gazette, begs her for an interview because he believes that if he publishes a story, it could be his big break. He threatens to write about Julia, and Ellie tells him that if he does that, she will get him fired. Afterward, Ellie lets Cal go home early because his wife, Lisa, is out of town, and he needs to be with his daughters. Later, a man and woman come in to speak with Ellie. The man says that their daughter, Ruthie, went missing in 1996. Ellie sees a large crowd of people outside and realizes that every person has come to see if the girl is their missing daughter. Ellie takes the time to speak to everyone and hear their stories.
Chapter 10 Summary
The next day, a social worker comes to the house and assigns Julia as a temporary foster parent to the girl. In the room with the girl, Julia picks up The Secret Garden and reads aloud from it. After a while, Julia tells the girl that she will be back and then goes into the bathroom that connects to the bedroom. The girl shoves open the door because she thinks that Julia left her. When Julia flushes the toilet, the girl screams. Julia soothes her and walks back into the room and reads to the girl because she seems to like it.
Ellie brings them food, but the girl hides behind the plants when she sees her. As Julia and Ellie talk, the girl runs into the bathroom. Julia sees the girl sitting on the toilet, and they watch as the girl uses the bathroom and flushes the toilet. Julia tells Ellie that she did not teach her to do that, but someone must have shown her at some point. Ellie goes back to the station, and Julia puts the food on the table but does not let the girl eat it until she sits down. Julia writes in her notebook that she thinks that the girl learned how to survive by mimicking other animals or human beings.
Julia brings a box of toys into the room. The girl picks out a nightgown, and Julia tells her she can wear it after she bathes. Julia takes her into the bathroom and gets into the bath with her clothes on, showing the girl what she wants her to do. After a while, the girl does it, and Julia runs water for her, washing her. The girl loves the feeling of the water and smiles at Julia. She hums and Julia realizes that she is humming “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Julia sings the song, and the girl looks at her in shock. Julia tries to get the girl to say her name, but she does not.
Julia gets her out of the bath, dresses her, and braids her hair. The girl turns around and sees herself in the bathroom mirror and gasps. She touches the mirror and Julia realizes that she is seeing herself for the first time. Julia lets her sit in front of the mirror for hours before guiding her to bed. She reads her Alice in Wonderland, and the girl cuddles next to her on the bed. She hits the book when Julia stops reading, and Julia does not know if she wants her to keep reading or if she is trying to tell her something. Julia says the name “Alice,” and the girl hits the book again. Julia wonders if the girl’s name is Alice, and she decides to call her that until she knows her real name.
Chapters 6-10 Analysis
As Julia navigates how to connect with Alice, she struggles with her past catching up with her in Rain Valley. When Ellie holds a press conference, Julia realizes that she will not be able to escape The Challenges of Professional Life and Public Perception. The question of the media becomes a source of tension between Ellie and Julia because Ellie does not understand the extent of Julia’s depression and feelings of guilt over Amber. Rather than listening to her sister, Ellie focuses on her own career and allows her selfish nature to guide her. This tension causes a greater rift between the sisters because Ellie’s behavior reminds Julia of their father. Julia’s familial trauma stems from her father’s neglect and lack of love toward her. Since Ellie does not understand how Julia’s relationship with their father was different than her own, Julia suffers in silence, even though every area of Rain Valley reminds her of her father’s neglect. While both sisters struggle to move past their childhood dynamics—Julia is still traumatized by her father’s treatment while Ellie’s personality has been sculpted by his preference for her—they both are beginning to grow. Julia is building new familial dynamics by playing a maternal role for Alice. Ellie, meanwhile, confronts her selfishness when she faces the families searching for their missing daughters in the police station. Although Ellie knows that most of the families will not be related to Alice, she listens to every parent’s story. This exposure to trauma leaves Ellie feeling hopeless because she knows that each parent harbors hope that they will finally reunite with their missing daughter after years of believing she is dead. The resilience of these parents inspires Ellie to discover what happened to Alice, hoping that she can reunite her with her parents.
In contrast with Ellie’s focus on her career, Julia focuses on saving Alice and not abandoning her to the medical system. Through her research, she discovers files on so-called feral children who were used and abandoned. Julia hates that doctors used these children as leverage to advance their careers and left them behind in treatment facilities once they learned what they wanted. This degree of mistreatment characterizes Julia through juxtaposition; while the outcome of Amber’s case is tragic, Julia genuinely tried to help her, and she laments that she could not. Julia promises that she will not let this exploitation happen to Alice, even though she understands the lure of putting one’s career first. Her experience with Amber makes her especially sensitive because she does not want Alice to hurt herself as Amber did. While Julia’s goal is to help Alice recover, the process is healing for her as well. She puts Alice’s needs before her career because she knows that Alice will not survive another traumatic event. This, in turn, helps Julia focus on something other than the negative attention and guilt she feels over Amber.
As Alice progresses and learns to trust Julia, she develops a sense of identity. Although Alice does not speak because of the abuse she has faced, Julia encourages learning within the safe environment of Alice’s bedroom. Hannah provides insight into Alice’s perspective by shifting the narration between Julia and Alice. Although Alice does not understand everything that Julia says to her, she learns from Julia’s physical behaviors that she wants Alice to feel safe. Although it takes weeks before Alice completely sheds her fear, she hopes that Julia wants what is best for her and learns to trust her. Alice’s growth introduces the theme of The Search for Identity and Belonging. Even though Alice survived in isolation, she bonds with Julia because of Julia’s endless patience and love toward her. Alice’s first major step toward discovering her identity comes when she sees herself in the mirror in the bathroom. This moment establishes Alice’s identity, especially in the literary connection to Alice’s namesake from Lewis Carrol’s books. As Alice investigates herself in the looking glass, she metaphorically leaves behind the world of traumatic abuse that she has experienced and takes her first steps toward the hope of a future with a mother who will care for her.
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