Tragic Love Chapter Summaries

The first seven chapters tell us about how Oliver and Jenny’s tragic love story began. Oliver is a senior at Harvard that is studying at the Radcliffe library when he needs help locating a book and meets Jenny. She isn’t helpful and insults him by calling him “Preppie” because he is “rich and stupid.” After the name calling they flirt a bit and then Oliver takes her out for coffee because she “likes his body.” We learn a background of each character while on this date and as they are walking back to Jenny’s dorm, Oliver is determined to win over Jenny and invites her to one of his hockey games. At his game, Oliver ends up being the hero and scores to win the game, hoping to impress Jenny. After the game, Jenny waits outside for Oliver and when he comes out they kiss. After they each get

He was not too happy about that. It turns out that Phil was her father and Oliver is just being paranoid. At this point we get a more detailed background of Jenny’s life outside of college, including information about her parents. Oliver tries to make Jenny understand about his and his father’s relationship, but she does not get it. In chapter 5 we learn that the first three weeks of their relationship they are not very physical, only kissing here and there. This is shocking because this isn’t how Oliver’s relationships usually are. It turns out that Oliver fears being rejected by Jenny because he has never felt this way before. Oliver does not give much away to his roommate, but this doesn’t mean his roommate doesn’t suspect anything. This proves that their relationship got more physical as time went by. Their relationship takes a large step in chapter 7 when Oliver takes Jenny to meet his parents. Jenny is shocked by the house and its size. Oliver feels uncomfortable and says that they cannot stay for dinner, but Jenny insists they do because she is