Postcards from No Man's Land Chapter 22 Summary

Postcard

  • At 8:30AM the next day, Jacob wakes up and finds Daan about to run out the door.
  • They have one of those exchanges—you know, where they're both saying sorry for the same thing. Daan says he'd had too much wine; Jacob says he wasn't thinking. It's all settled.
  • Jacob asks Daan to tell Geertrui thanks for the gift, and Daan promises to and then heads out.
  • Tessel stops by and has coffee with Jacob. She's really just using any excuse to check in on the guy, but he doesn't mind.
  • She hopes Jacob hasn't been offended while he's there since she's had so much going on with Geertrui, but he assures her he hasn't been.
  • He's liking Amsterdam more and more each day, and Tessel makes him promise to come back and visit soon. He does.
  • After Tessel leaves, Jacob feels restless—he doesn't want to read or listen to music, so he heads out and walks along the canals.
  • He finds himself at Alma's pad again, and decides to go in and say hi.
  • Alma is excited to see him, and the two share a coffee once again. He tells her about the rest of his trip and she asks him about Anne Frank's house—she remembers he loves her.
  • He's got a confession to make: he'd actually already been to Anne Frank's house when he met Alma the first time. He just didn't want to admit it yet.
  • Why? Alma doesn't get it. Surely he knew she was famous.
  • Jacob admits that he knew everyone read her diary, and he patiently waited in the long line to get in—but once he was inside, he felt out of place.
  • Everyone was super respectful of the house, but Jacob just felt wrong, as if it were someone's personal space that he shouldn't be invading. This place where Anne confessed her most intimate thoughts and put postcards on the wall shouldn't be something everyone can walk through.
  • He's had a hard time wrapping his head around it, but maybe some personal memories aren't meant to be taken.
  • Hmm… Alma listens and then tells Jacob not to worry. She thinks it's a normal reaction to someone's house, especially since Jacob loves Anne so much.
  • Then talk turns to another woman Jacob loves: his grandma. He dishes all that happened with his grandpa and Geertrui, still unsure what to tell his beloved Sarah.
  • Alma points out that Sarah might already know. Why else would she send him to Amsterdam, and why now?
  • Jacob can't believe it. Does she know? How come she never mentioned it if she did? Should he talk to her about it?
  • They say goodbye to each other, and Alma hopes to see Jacob again. He'll be back—he promises.
  • Jacob gets a letter from Geertrui telling him he can't be there when she dies. She's touched that he cares, but she has to think of Tessel and Daan now, and it will be harder on them if he's there. She doesn't want them to have to take care of someone when it happens. She hopes he understands.
  • Then he calls up Hille and asks to meet up with her the next day. She's reluctant at first because she's got school, but then she agrees to it.