William’s Absence

This flow traces William’s imprisonment as an enduring presence in Jenny’s life, from coded letters to the gradual end of their romantic bond.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Arrest

The Arrest A Shared Life Broken William is arrested after Jenny and he have carried out antiwar bombings together. Jenny escapes, but their partnership is transformed into a relationship sustained by memory and prison correspondence. An Unanswered Question They had planned for joint arrest, not separation, and neither is prepared for the life that follows.

Coded Correspondence

Coded Correspondence Letters Through Dana Jenny and William send letters through Dana, using cautious language to evade scrutiny. The correspondence preserves a connection, but its indirectness and delays make intimacy increasingly difficult to sustain. A Narrow Channel Jenny begins to feel that the letters offer signs of love rather than the full presence she longs for.

The Surrender Question

The Surrender Question William’s Hope William reads Watergate as evidence that public opinion may have shifted in favor of radical defendants. He urges Jenny to consider surrender, but she learns from a lawyer that no general amnesty is coming. Two Political Realities His prison perspective and her experience outside leave them with different measures of risk and possibility.

A Letter Left Behind

A Letter Left Behind An Unsent Connection Jenny writes to William but cannot find a safe way to send the letter from the farmhouse. When Rob Frazer forgets it in his car, the letter becomes a physical reminder of how fragile Jenny’s old loyalties have become. A New Silence The escape with Pauline interrupts a relationship that Jenny has not yet learned to leave.

The Quiet Ending

The Quiet Ending Support Without Romance William continues to advise Jenny from prison and offers encouragement during her legal troubles. His care remains generous, but it no longer carries the romantic intimacy Jenny once expected. Letting the Letters Stop When William’s replies grow distant, Jenny understands that she should stop writing.

Three years before the farmhouse

The first year after William’s arrest

Winter 1973

During the farmhouse crisis

During Jenny’s imprisonment