The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

Back in 2014, Lenni’s father and Agnieszka come to visit her, but her anesthetic makes her confused, and she struggles to communicate. She tells him that her mother is 83 and posits that Margot always wears purple because she’s mourning Humphrey. Lenni’s father tells her that he and Agnieszka are expecting a child and thanks her for keeping her promise to have a nurse call him so that he could tell her goodbye.

Margot confesses to Lenni that she’s afraid of letting her down because Lenni finished her paintings but Margot has yet to finish hers. Lenni points out that she only made 17 of the 100, but Margot insists that Lenni’s contribution represents “half.” Pippa and some of the other art students are helping Margot complete the remaining pictures as quickly as they can, and Margot wants to make sure that Lenni still hears the stories that accompany the paintings.

Margot continues the story in the West Midlands in Spring 1999. While packing some of Humphrey’s books for his sister, 68-year-old Margot found the photograph of Meena and Jeremy. Margot knew that she “took Humphrey’s love for granted sometimes” (297) because she felt so secure in his affection for her.