The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

Nina discusses William Reynolds with her coworkers, Liz and Polly. Liz jokes that Nina might inherit a fortune from her new family. Polly, an aspiring actress who also works at Knight’s, looks up Nina’s father and finds his latest wife, Eliza. However, Nina dismisses her father as “a serial cheater and abandoner of children” (76).

Nina’s brother, Archie Reynolds, comes to the store, and Nina notices that they share a physical resemblance. When they go out for coffee, they order the same drink. Archie asks about her mother and describes William as an entertainment lawyer with a larger-than-life personality and a drinking habit. Archie’s mother, Eliza, now lives in Malibu on the west side of Los Angeles. Malibu seems like a different part of the world to Nina, who lives on the east side of the 405 highway. Nina, who is shy, wonders if she’s ready to be part of a family; she feels like “a different social being” (85) now that she has found out about the Reynolds family. At home, as she reconsiders her visualization board and journaling methods, Nina realizes that she would like to date Tom, the captain of the rival trivia team, even though she doesn’t feel the need a boyfriend.