Searching for Sylvie Lee

Wednesday, May 4

Amy arrives in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Willem, Helena, and Lukas meet her at the baggage claim, and she struggles against her fatigue and the disorientation of being in a foreign airport for the first time. Lukas strikes her as unkempt, although she supposes this is typical of photojournalists. She meets Estelle, a childhood friend of Sylvie and Willem’s who is at Schiphol because she is a pilot. Estelle invites Sylvie to lunch the next day. Helena and Willem are in a hurry: Although it is a national holiday, they run a large Chinese restaurant and must return to work.

Helena, Willem, and Lukas live in a village about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam. On the drive home, the three reminisce about Sylvie as a child. When they arrive, Amy is still nauseated and disoriented, and she feels uncertain about Helena, who seems to approve of how different Amy is from Sylvie. Amy learns that Sylvie had been learning to play the cello. Confused, Amy protests that Sylvie isn’t musical at all, and Helena insinuates that Sylvie had only taken lessons because the teacher was handsome. Even more confused, Amy protests that Sylvie had been married.