The Echo of Old Books: A Novel

Ashlyn and Ethan meet Marian, Ilese, and Ilese’s daughters for dinner in Boston the day before Marian’s award ceremony, and the group gets on extremely well. As Ilese talks about her childhood growing up with Zachary, Ashlyn and Ethan exchange knowing glances, which alerts Marian to the fact that they know the truth.

Eventually, Ilese enlists Ethan’s help to carry the three sleepy girls up to bed in their hotel room. After they leave, Marian confesses the truth to Ashlyn: Marian knew she was pregnant when she left New York for California and told everyone there that she was a war widow. She eventually befriended Johanna, who was pregnant with one child and had lost another back home. Before she died, Johanna left Marian her son’s birth certificate, allowing Marian to legitimize her own son when she adopted Ilese.

When the children were older, Marian eventually told them both the truth about their birth, but the siblings only grew closer. Zachary also asserted he didn’t want to know or meet his biological father since Ilese couldn’t do the same, which relieved Marian of some of the guilt of never telling Hugh. Richard knew everything, however, which is why he continually pressed Marian to meet and reconcile with Hugh.

Ashlyn is sure that there is still a lot of love between the two. She encourages Marian to let go of her anger and choose forgiveness. Ethan returns, and Marian warmly sees the two of them off, asking Ethan to take good care of Ashlyn.

Marian ponders Ashlyn’s advice as she gets ready for her awards ceremony. The event is a glitzy affair, and Marian makes a charming speech as she accepts her award; when she is onstage, however, she is shocked to see Hugh in the crowd. After the event, he asks her to have a drink with him, asserting they ought to hash out their past once and for all.

Marian believes Ashlyn planned this ambush and is worried that Hugh has found out about Zachary. As they start talking, however, Hugh accuses Marian of choosing Teddy over him. Confused, she points out that she sent him a note, and Hugh shows her the one he received: It is the one she wrote for Teddy, ending their engagement and asking him not to contact her again. Shocked, Marian explains that the note she had written to Hugh had asked him to wait for her. As she tries to remember how the notes could have gotten switched around, she remembers Cee-Cee coming into her room while she was writing them and is sure her sister switched the letters.

A wary Hugh doesn’t entirely believe Marian. He also reveals that he found out about the awards dinner through the paper and has no idea who Ashlyn is. He lives part of the year in Boston. Marian asks Hugh to accompany her to confront Corinne the next day, but he refuses, claiming it doesn’t matter now as everything happened so long ago. He asserts that meeting Marian today was a mistake. However, before he leaves, he reiterates once more that he had nothing to do with the article; years ago, Goldie admitted to finding Hugh’s notebook and passing it Schwab. An upset Marian responds that the article doesn’t matter anymore, either.

Hugh changes his mind and turns up at Marian’s hotel room the next morning to drive her to New York. A nursing attendant answers the door, letting them know that Corinne is unwell and expecting the doctor. As Marian and Hugh walk through the house toward Corinne’s room, Marian observes how shabby and faded the house is, a far cry from its glory days.

A physically diminished Corinne reveals that she has a brain tumor. She scoffingly questions Marian’s motive for return and is furious to see she has brought Hugh with her. Marian confronts her about switching the letters, and while she initially denies it, she eventually admits to it. She confesses her resentment that Marian was going to choose a life for herself, while she was forced into dutiful choices and an unhappy marriage by their father. Corinne read the letters, and when she found Dickey slipping out to deliver them, she intercepted him and moved Teddy’s letter to Hugh’s envelope, throwing away the original one.

Marian rants at Corinne for breaking her heart. Before she leaves, Corinne directs her to a box of things in the closet that Marian ought to take with her. Marian is surprised and overwhelmed to find Helene’s belongings, including a silver hairbrush and the missing photo album. Marian accuses Corinne of hiding Helene’s things to spite her, and Corinne describes how she and Helene used to be close. Things changed after Marian arrived, and Corinne tried hard to win their father’s approval instead, doing everything he wanted. However, it all came to naught, as Marian brought Hugh into their lives, and their family was eventually ruined while Marian escaped.

While Marian sees the truth in Corinne’s words, she also realizes that Corinne kept Helene’s things because a part of her wanted to preserve their mother’s memories. Marian takes the box with her but leaves the hairbrush behind as a parting gift.

In the car, Marian tells Hugh that they ought to let the past go and forgive each other, now that the truth is out. She asks him to come home with her, as she has something to show him. At her place, Marian pours Hugh a drink and suggests they drink to his literary success. Hugh reveals that she is in every one of his novels; after Regretting Belle, every female protagonist he ever wrote was fashioned around her.

Marian reveals she has both books, returned to her by Richard’s son after his death. Hugh finally apologizes for believing a lie all these years and reiterates his lack of involvement with the final story. He has been unable to forget Marian, and has never stopped wishing for a life with her. They kiss, but Marian eventually pulls back, as she has something to tell him. She shows him a picture of Zachary and confesses that he is their son.

Hugh is furious that Marian has kept his son him for more than four decades. Marian tearfully apologizes, trying to defend herself by insisting she didn’t know if she could trust him, but Hugh refuses to accept her apologies or her explanations. He does not believe that they have a future together after this; Zachary was their way back to salvaging their wounded relationship, but Marian squandered that chance by keeping him from Hugh. Hugh leaves, and Marian is heartbroken all over again.

Marian calls Zachary and tells him the complete truth about his father, after which she sits on the porch, lost in thought, until night falls. Just as she is about to head back in, she notices a silhouette of a man on the beach in the moonlight and realizes Hugh is out there. She walks down to him, and he confesses he found himself unable to leave; Marian invites him back into the house, out of the cold.

Hugh reveals that he has spent the past few hours trying to figure out what he wants, which is to go back in time. He knows he cannot and admits that if he had swallowed his pride and found Marian back then, he could have been a part of Zachary’s life. Hugh asserts that they have lost too many years being angry with and blaming each other; although he was initially angry about Marian’s deception with Zachary, he now sees that he stands to gain “a son and perhaps a second chance” (417). Hugh asks for them to try again, and Marian joyfully accepts. They talk for hours, filling each other in on their lives over the past decades, until they finally run out of things to say and head out onto the beach to watch the sunrise.

A year and a half later, Ashlyn celebrates Hanukkah with Ethan and his family. They plan on announcing their engagement soon. Ashlyn thinks about Belle’s and Hemi’s books, now shelved in Marian’s office, and how they have changed their echoes: “Cool and quiet and gloriously aligned, like notes resonating in perfect harmony” (422). She looks at the scar on her hand and thinks of it now not as a painful memory, but as a second chance at love and family.

Marian feels overwhelmingly happy to have her entire blended family gathered together for the holiday. Marian and Hugh got married quietly at the courthouse after Zachary’s wedding earlier that August. Zachary and his wife are due to be parents soon, and Hugh is thrilled at the prospect of becoming a grandfather. As Marian watches Ethan and Ashlyn across the room, she is sure that another wedding is impending.

After the menorah is lit and prayers are sung, the family trails out to freshen up before dinner. Hugh returns to Marian with a present, and she unwraps it to find her mother’s album, painstakingly restored by Ashlyn. Teary-eyed, Marian smiles up at Hugh, eager to peruse the memories he has returned to her, as well as create new ones with him.