The Bird Hotel

Irene has never forgotten how Diana’s boyfriend, Daniel, then Lenny, tried to get her over her fear of water by throwing her in. She’s been living by the lake for seven years now and asks Pablito, the fisherman, to teach her how to swim. Pablito catches his fish by harpooning, which is efficient but also dangerous.

Irene has dinner at least once a week with Gus and Dora and their two children. They are the closest thing she has to family. Irene recognizes and accepts Gus’s flaws and failings: “I might know he was selling me a bill of goods, but I bought it anyway, as a sister might, the misbehavior of a loveable if feckless brother” (255).

A new woman comes to town, Raya Sunshine. She is older, skinny, and owns nothing. She learns that one of Wade’s employees is nursing his newborn son, but the other twin, Alicia, gets little attention. Raya begins taking care of Alicia, then asks to keep her. She makes money crocheting bikini tops to sell to tourists, and she and Alicia are never apart.