The Submission

Claire and the children take a Circle Line cruise especially designed for the families of 9/11 victims. All guests had been told that politics were off the table, so she and some other widows discuss their subsequent sex lives. Claire had a summer fling with a younger man, but she took it no further because it was beneath her dignity due to her social class, among other reasons. In playing with the other children, William insists on playing the fireman—he always does, according to Claire. But the bratty Hansen twins won’t let him because they say William’s mother likes bad guys. Claire approaches Jane Hansen to reproach her but doesn’t get very far. Nell, another of the ladies, apologizes for Hansen’s rude behavior, and Claire tries to explain to William in simple terms why some of the others don’t like the memorial design.

By chance, Asma sees the Circle Line cruise with the victims’ families on television. She thinks back to the rickety, dangerous boats on the many rivers in Bangladesh that pitched people overboard to their deaths. She also recalls when she and Inam splurged and took a Circle Line cruise. She and Abdul were not invited on this one, of course.