Good Morning, Midnight

Part 3 begins in The Hague, as Sasha chronicles her time at the home of a Dutch couple named Hans and Tonny Steen. Sasha describes her room at the Steens’ as crowded, a place where “you couldn’t think, you couldn’t make plans” and “nothing in that room was ever clean; nothing was ever dirty, either” (113). Sasha portrays Tonny as “gentle” and Hans as man with “a blustering look” (114). Sasha has ventured to the Netherlands with Enno, even though neither has money: “We both thought the other had money” (114). The war has ended, and a spirit of hope and freedom permeates as Sasha avoids returning to London. Sasha unveils more of Enno’s backstory: A former poet songwriter, Enno worked as a journalist during the war. She and Enno met in London, where “he seemed very prosperous” (114). Despite her reservations, Sasha marries Enno in The Hague.

Sasha travels to Amsterdam with Enno shortly after their wedding. They explore Amsterdam, and Sasha feels “everything is smooth, soft and tender” (117). Eager to return to Paris, Sasha and Enno sell their clothing to buy tickets to Brussels, Belgium.

Sasha and Enno arrive in Brussels. In contrast to the gentleness of Amsterdam, the room in Brussels is “a long, narrow room with a long, narrow window and the bell of the cinema next door, sharp and meaningless” (118). With now only 30 francs between them, Enno leaves the next morning in search of money. He instructs Sasha to stay in the hotel room. While waiting anxiously in the hotel room, Sasha recalls the name of an old acquaintance named Mr. Lawson. She seeks Mr. Lawson out and reminds him of their connection over a past dinner and his instructions to look him up if she was ever in Brussels. After sharing her and Enno’s current state of desperation, Mr. Lawson gifts Sasha 100 francs and kisses her. Frozen, Sasha hates “him more than I have ever hated anyone in my life, yet I feel my mouth go soft under his, and my arms go limp” (119).

Sasha informs Enno later that evening that she has borrowed money from an old acquaintance. She lies to Enno, telling him that the money is from a woman. As Enno asks for more details, Sasha breaks down in tears. She avoids further questioning, and Enno leaves to find food.

Sasha and Enno leave for Calais, where Enno has a connection who will help them. At the station on the way to Calais, Sasha gets sick and again begins to cry. She fears she is pregnant. They make it to Calais and stay with Enno’s friends. An exhausted Sasha looks “thin—too thin—and dirty and haggard, with that expression that you get in your eyes when you are very tired and everything is like a dream and you are starting to know what things are like underneath what people say they are” (121). After receiving the loan from Enno’s friend, Sasha and Enno depart for Paris.

Once they arrive in Paris, Enno leaves Sasha in a park, saying he must go off to meet some connections. Sasha stays alone in the park for three and a half hours. Enno returns with money and two friends, one named Alfred. They eat at a local café, and Enno shares that he has found a room for them.

Sasha and Enno spend their first night in their new room, for which they have paid a month in advance. That night they “woke up scratching, and the wall was covered with bugs, crawling slowly” (125). They move to another room as theirs is fumigated. Sasha searches for work as an English tutor.

After a month in Paris, Enno complains about his lack of sexual satisfaction with Sasha. He storms out, leaving Sasha alone for days with only 20 francs. Sasha, now certain she’s pregnant, though she hasn’t yet told anyone, believes Enno gone for good and ventures on her own to buy groceries. Upon her return, Enno reappears with two mille notes, or 2,000 francs, and requests Sasha to peel him an orange, which she does. Sasha realizes the eternal nature of her love for Enno when she views him looking longingly up to their window from the street. Despite seeing this, she does not wave and hides while watching him.

Sasha and Enno build their life together in Paris. They both find work; Enno writes and sings while Sasha teaches English. Sasha’s pregnancy advances. Rhys unveils Sasha’s age in this section: She is 25 years old.

Sasha and Enno spend their time with a group of friends. Sasha feels drawn to Lise, a 22-year-old embroiderer and singer who expresses dissatisfaction with life. Enno is particularly close to Paulette, a confident, beautiful woman with outlandish tales of romance and folly.

Sasha prepares for the birth of her baby, making arrangements for when labor begins. With Enno working, Sasha may be alone. Mistakenly, her Russian student appears in Sasha’s room for his English lesson. Sasha gives him his last lesson, and he leaves after giving her 10 francs.

The narration flashes forward to the death of Sasha’s son. She describes her “heart, heavy as lead, heavy as a stone” as she observes her baby “lying so cold and still with a ticket round his wrist because he died” (139). Sasha and Enno return to their room; Enno, unable to cope, leaves.

Grief-stricken, Sasha goes out with friends. She finds herself alone in a corner with a “fat man” who tells her morbid stories of lost love, death, and resentment.

Enno leaves Sasha alone with promises of correspondence and money. Despite these promises, Sasha “knew it was finished. From the start I had known that one day this would happen—that we would say good-bye” (142). Sasha enters a time in her life when she is completely alone.

Sasha moves to a flea-ridden hotel room and, desperate, writes home to England for financial aid. She finds food at a local convent. One of the hotel workers, an Englishman, spreads rumors about Sasha’s past, saying “that I had treated his friend very badly and that I was the dirtiest bitch he had ever struck” (143). After receiving assistance from England, Sasha begins her cycle of moving from hotel to hotel as she pursues more money for material possessions.