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Mr. Clyde Brickman
Aunt Julia is Albert’s aunt and Odie’s biological mother. She is Rosalee’s sister and Ezekiel’s sister-in-law. Julia lives in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she manages the brothel where Mrs. Brickman once worked. Dolores is one of her employees. Odie hopes to make a home with Aunt Julia, though he does not know she is his mother until the novel’s final part. Aunt Julia’s acceptance of Odie and the painful experience of asking for his forgiveness is a powerful illustration of personal growth.
Aunt Julia Quotes in This Tender Land
The This Tender Land quotes below are all either spoken by Aunt Julia or refer to Aunt Julia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 63 Quotes
We are creatures of spirit, I have come to believe, and this spirit runs through us like electricity and can be passed one to another. That’s what I felt coming from my mother’s hand, the spirit of her deep longing. I was her son, her only son, and the photographs in her lap, the money she’d sent, her naïve willingness to believe the lies of the Black Witch, all told me that she’d never stopped loving me.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Aunt Julia Character Timeline in This Tender Land
The timeline below shows where the character Aunt Julia appears in This Tender Land. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 22
...shows Odie one of Mr. Brickman’s letters. Two years old, it is from their Aunt Julia, who the Brickmans claimed was dead. Though she is unable to support Albert and Odie,...
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Chapter 27
...shine through them. Odie thinks of staying with Sister Eve if they can’t find Aunt Julia, but Albert still thinks the situation is too good to last. He tells Odie to...
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Chapter 28
...weekly radio broadcast in Saint Louis. He agrees they can help the children find Aunt Julia, since they are heading to Saint Louis too, but Odie knows he is lying.
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Chapter 43
...Odie for sending Albert to fix the truck. Hearing the brothers’ plan to find Aunt Julia in Saint Louis, Mr. Schofield says family is the most important thing in the world....
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Chapter 55
The next morning, Odie questions Albert about Saint Louis and Aunt Julia, trying to get him back on track. But Albert intends to stay and work for...
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Chapter 59
...no letters have arrived from Maybeth, another customer is able to direct Odie to Aunt Julia’s house by the details he remembers: the street has a Greek name and is near...
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Aunt Julia’s street is called “Ithaca.” The candy shop has closed since the Depression, but her house...
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Chapter 60
Aunt Julia invites Odie in and feeds him sandwiches. The reunion is not as warmly emotional as...
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Aunt Julia asks Odie to only use the basement bathroom, as the ones on each floor are...
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Chapter 61
...then heads upstairs for breakfast. Several young women are milling around, and Odie assumes Aunt Julia runs some kind of women’s residence. The women complain about the worsening economy, alluding to...
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Aunt Julia visits Odie in the attic. They speak about the last time they saw each other,...
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Chapter 62
The next day, Aunt Julia sends Odie into town with Dolores to shop for new clothes. Odie tells Dolores stories...
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...in a quiet spot overlooking the river and tells her about his journey and Aunt Julia. Her house is not the home Odie expected. Reiterating her belief that prayers for forgiveness...
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...Eve that Emmy is safe with Gertie and Flo. Eve drives Odie back to Aunt Julia’s house, so he can tell her he will be rejoining the crusade. Julia is waiting...
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Chapter 63
Agitated, Aunt Julia paces as she explains how she became pregnant accidentally. Not wanting to raise a child...
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In the attic room with Aunt Julia and the Brickmans, Odie senses the Tornado God is approaching. Mrs. Brickman found Odie by...
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Julia asks if Mrs. Brickman lured Odie’s father (Zeke) to Minnesota—Zeke used to deliver liquor to...
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...refuses to reveal Emmy’s location. Mrs. Brickman threatens to bring him to the police, and Julia intervenes, saying she will kill Mrs. Brickman if she has to. Odie refuses to leave...
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Chapter 64
...journey to Saint Louis and woke saying “She’s not dead now.” Odie guesses Emmy saved Julia, too. Albert questions why Emmy did not save her own mother, and Odie speculates some...
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Epilogue
...release his belief in the Tornado God. Odie and Emmy remain in Saint Louis with Julia and Sister Eve. Odie’s mother is confined to a wheelchair, but she designs clothes and...
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