The Mirror (novel)

Shay goes into her bedroom and sees the mirror, an antique with claw feet, marred by a crack, and remembers that it only "fascinated" her due to being hideous.

About a month later, Shay hears that John McCabe is dying; when she comes to the house, he tells his daughter to "forgive him."

Contacting a "madam," May Bell Smith, Shay/Brandy attempts to work a form of birth control using a penny, but this fails when she conceives shortly before Corbin's death in a mining accident.

The attic spins, a vortex grabs Brandy, and she recovers in her bedroom (now carpeted with a different baseboard than earlier), taking off the veil in the process and noticing the body of an old woman beside her.

Shay's wedding to Marek is called off due to the funeral of her grandmother, as well as Rachael's belief that the trauma has affected Shay.About a month later, Brandy (in Shay's body) is found to be pregnant; the doctor recommends abortion, an idea odious to Brandy who runs away from the house.

The old man's granddaughter Lottie (who has heard about Shay Garrett's flight) visits him once, and threatens to report Shay/Brandy to Social Services.

She is surprised to hear some of the old man's stories about her family, including that Elton was homosexual, and that John McCabe owned brothels on Water Street.

Lottie attempts an unannounced visit when the twins are about four months old, and seeing the cloth nappies washed and hung to dry by Brandy, promptly calls the Garretts.

When she reveals the diary to Remy and Dan, the three finally understand why their mother seemed to be "way ahead of time" (she had insisted on their using thread to floss with, and Rachel remembers the inaccurate attempt at cardiac-massage on her father).