56 pages 1 hour read

Angela Johnson

Heaven

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1998

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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4, Chapter 18 Summary: “Love Letters”

Marley writes a letter to Uncle Jack, asking if he thinks of her as a daughter, but she tears up the letter instead of sending it. Marley admits that since learning about her birth parents, she has stopped going to the Western Union to wire Uncle Jack money. Now Butchy goes instead, and he asks Pops why they are able to send Uncle Jack so much money.

Pops explains that Marley’s birth mother, Christine, died in a car accident, and the car company was at fault so Uncle Jack received a large settlement. Shocked by the amount of money he received, he put it all in the bank and asked Pops to deal with it.

Marley opens her baby box again and finds love letters written to Uncle Jack from Christine, as well as a diamond ring. When Marley opens one of the envelopes, yellow flower petals fall out. Marley realizes that she may have gotten her love of yellow flowers from her birth mother. Marley struggles to reconcile the two mothers in her life: the one who gave birth to her, and Momma, who raised her. Christine feels more real to Marley now that she has read the love letters that Christine sent to Uncle Jack.

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By Angela Johnson

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