The Haunted Bookshop · Chapter
Aubrey Walks Part Way Home—and Rides the Rest of the Way explained
After leaving the Haunted Bookshop, Aubrey Gilbert walks home through Brooklyn, lost in romantic thoughts about Titania Chapman.
What happens
After leaving the Haunted Bookshop, Aubrey Gilbert walks home through Brooklyn, lost in romantic thoughts about Titania Chapman. He stops at Weintraub's drug store, where he notices a torn book cover from Carlyle Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches and impulsively pockets it. Weintraub's stained fingers and a suspicious curtain movement hint at secrecy. Later, Aubrey is attacked by two men but is rescued by a motorist. He returns to his boarding house, still preoccupied with Titania's beauty and his advertising career.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Romance
Aubrey's intense infatuation with Titania dominates his thoughts, mixing admiration, rage, and worship.
Mystery and Adventure
The discovery of the Cromwell book cover, Weintraub's suspicious behavior, and the attack on Aubrey introduce a mysterious plot.
The Art of Bookselling as a Profession
The bookshop's cozy atmosphere and Mifflin's reading highlight the cultural role of bookselling.
Characters to notice
- Aubrey Gilbert
Walks home from the bookshop, daydreams about Titania, visits Weintraub's drug store, pockets a Cromwell book cover, and is attacked on the street.
- Mr. Weintraub
The druggist with stained fingers, denies smoking, and acts suspiciously when Aubrey visits his shop.
- Titania Chapman
Aubrey's romantic thoughts center on her beauty and charm, which he attributes to the power of advertising.
- Roger Mifflin
Mentioned as the bookseller who read aloud from Somebody's Luggage earlier in the evening.
Key passages
“He was not thinking: he was being thought.”
Aubrey's thoughts were involuntary, as if controlled by an external force.
Describes Aubrey's passive mental state while daydreaming about Titania.
“What right has any girl to be as pretty as that? Why—why, I'd like to beat her!”
Aubrey's frustration with Titania's beauty makes him feel violent anger.
Shows Aubrey's conflicted emotions of rage and adoration.
“Advertising had clothed her, Advertising had fed her, schooled, roofed, and sheltered her.”
Aubrey believes that advertising is responsible for Titania's refined upbringing and beauty.
Reflects Aubrey's idealization of his profession and its influence on society.