c. 1938: new York City
mary mccarthy enables a divorce
under polly’s door was a letter for her. she
picked it up, not daring to look at it, for she
knew it would be from her exboyfriend gus.
she took off her coat and hung it up, washed
her hands, watered her plants, lit a cigarette.
Then, trembling, she tore open the letter. in
side was a single sheet of paper, a short letter, in
handwriting. she did not look directly at it yet
but put it on the table, glancing at it sidewise,
as if it could tell her what it said without mak
ing her read it. The letter was from her father.
dear polly,
Your mother and i have decided to get
a divorce. if it suits you, i would like to
come to new York and live with you. That
is, if you are not otherwise encumbered. i
could make myself useful, do the shopping
and cooking for you. We might look for a
little flat together. Your mother will keep
the farm. My mental health is excellent.
Your obedient servant and loving
father,
Henry l. K. andrews
on hearing the news, everyone took for
granted that her parents’ separation must have
been a dreadful shock to her, but the sad truth
was that all polly felt then was a wan gratitude
that her father was coming. it was with a start
finally that she remembered her mother and
wondered how she was taking it.
The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon
the children. —Euripides, c. 430 BC
lowspirited as she was during the first
days, polly was amused by her father. she was
startled to hear herself laugh aloud the night
he came; it was as if the sound had come from
someone else. she told herself that she was go
ing through the motions of living, now that she
had someone to live for, but before long she
found she was looking forward to coming home
from work, wondering what they would have
for dinner and what her father had been up to
in her absence. He was immensely proud of the
divorce and talked about it to everyone, as if it
were some new process he had discovered, all
by himself. For the time being, polly had taken
for him a room on the third floor; on weekends,
they were going to look for an apartment. but
then Mr. andrews had a better idea. Having
made friends with the landlady, he persuaded
her to turn the topfloor rooms into an apart
ment for him and polly—the lodger in the one
that was rented could move downstairs to polly’s
place. He designed the new apartment himself,
using the hall to gain space and to make a little
kitchen, long and narrow, like a ship’s galley. all
spring and early summer he and polly were busy
