Running in the Family: Tea Country Summary & Analysis

Ondaatje drives up into the hills, into tea country, to visit his half-sister Susan and her husband Sunil. They meet in town to buy groceries and then drive up to the estate, but the car breaks down a mile out and they must walk the rest of the way. An hour after arriving, lightning strikes the house and blows a fuse box. They spend their evening playing Scrabble, shouting over the sound of the rain. The next day Ondaatje wakes to perfect silence. Even nature seems still. He thinks, “this is the silence, that surrounded my parents’ marriage.”