Holloway: Chapters 21–29

by Elana K. Arnold
Nora's Paris journey begins in 2021 with her mother's ashes after losing her during the pandemic. A dark holloway transports Nora back to 1946, but her goal remains: find a way to honor her mother — and heal herself — in a broken world.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–20, Chapters 21–29
15 words 3 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. disquiet
    a feeling of mild anxiety about possible developments
    She and I pass like strangers when we see each other in the hallway or the bathroom—but eventually the color studies aren’t enough to wash away the disquiet, and the choice becomes to either start a painting or deal with reality.
  2. sobering
    tending to make someone serious and thoughtful
    Some of her beliefs were laughable...or, they would have been, if they hadn’t been so dangerous.
    That’s the sobering thought. How dangerous her beliefs were. Fatally so.
  3. polity
    the form of government of a social organization
    "...by what we have lived through, yes, but also what we have endured, and who we have lost, the little dramas of family as well as the broad saga of country and polities and war...well, then, we can—all of us, eventually—feel better.”
  4. rudimentary
    being or involving basic facts or principles
    Several people crawl on hands and knees, wearing rudimentary animal costumes: here, a dog pants his tongue and wags his rear end, from which a tail loosely hangs; there, a lady in a unitard sits prettily and cleans herself by licking her paw, passing it across her face.
  5. unitard
    a garment that covers the body from shoulders to thighs
    Several people crawl on hands and knees, wearing rudimentary animal costumes: here, a dog pants his tongue and wags his rear end, from which a tail loosely hangs; there, a lady in a unitard sits prettily and cleans herself by licking her paw, passing it across her face.
  6. parse
    analyze in detail in order to discover essential features
    We’re looking at each other across the workshop, there’s an expression on his face I can’t parse—he doesn’t look relieved to see me, or glad...and after the way I left him, why would he have tried to find me, at all?
  7. conspiracy theory
    a belief that a secret group plotted to cause an event
    She will become lost in conspiracy theories and medical quackery, succumb to a preventable disease, and die.
  8. quackery
    unscientific or ignorant medical treatment or advice
    She will become lost in conspiracy theories and medical quackery, succumb to a preventable disease, and die.
  9. succumb
    be fatally overwhelmed
    She will become lost in conspiracy theories and medical quackery, succumb to a preventable disease, and die.
  10. providence
    the guardianship and control exercised by a deity
    If there is a divine providence—which I don’t believe—it sent us to this moment, here.
  11. mores
    the conventions embodying the fundamental values of a group
    Mr. Robinson sent her to the principal’s office and lectured us for twenty minutes on cultural mores around food—this is when I learned about the cows—but the damage was done.
  12. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    Exploitive labor practices. Environmental ruin. Then there’s the consideration of the forced labor used to—mine the cobalt that fueled the battery of the very implement on which I was doing my research. Layer upon layer upon layer of complicity, of suffering, of pain.
  13. complicity
    guilt as a confederate in a crime or offense
    Exploitive labor practices. Environmental ruin. Then there’s the consideration of the forced labor used to—mine the cobalt that fueled the battery of the very implement on which I was doing my research. Layer upon layer upon layer of complicity, of suffering, of pain.
  14. teleological
    explaining phenomena by their ends or purposes
    Then, there’s the teleological interpretation: something only is based on its purpose. Things exist because of their use. Therefore, the chicken must be first, without it, there would be no chicken to lay the egg.
  15. motley
    consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    We share a held breath as he cranks the key, as the engine grumbles. When it roars to life, we cheer, a cacophony of unkempt celebration. Robot barks, punctuating our cheers, and then we’re off, the motley bunch of us, bumping down the hard-packed dirt path.
Created on Fri Oct 02 21:49:26 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Oct 06 11:33:17 EDT 2026)

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