Small Island: Chapter 29: Queenie Summary & Analysis

Queenie and Michael have sex. It’s nothing like her previous experiences with Bernard, during which she usually “worked out what she could make for dinner.” For the first time in her life, she feels beautiful and takes pleasure in sex. In the middle of the night, he returns to his own room; he knocks on her door before departing in the morning, but she pretends to be asleep in order to avoid an awkward farewell.

A bit later, Arthur wakes Queenie up urgently. He’s found Michael’s wallet, which he must have left behind; inside are photos of an older couple and a young girl. Queenie worries that it’s his good luck charm, and he might not feel safe flying without it, so she decides to seek him out at the train station. In any case, she’s sure Arthur knows she slept with Michael, and she doesn’t want to spend the morning feeling ashamed in front of her father-in-law.

Queenie has almost reached the station when she’s caught in an air-raid. She’s thrown across the street by the impact and loses consciousness, waking up in a cloud of soot with glass shards in her hair. Briefly, she wonders if she’s dead; then she realizes that she’s now “population,” just like all the people at the rest center. Eventually, a fireman helps her up and helps her to an ambulance; on her way, she accidentally steps on a severed hand.

Arthur collects Queenie from the hospital and takes her home, fretting over her ceaselessly. When he tucks her into bed, he kisses her cheek and speaks for the first time, telling her that he would “die if anything happened to you.” He sits by her bedside and watches her while she sleeps.