CHAPTER 5 "FAMILY VALUES"

The love that Calvin and Elizabeth have for one another is profound, and their relationship provides both of them with a source of inspiration and intellectual stimulation in equal measure.

Throughout the course of a few months, they talk about almost everything other than their families. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Calvin brings up the issue by asking Elizabeth about her plans for the upcoming holiday, specifically whether or not she will be traveling back to her hometown.

Calvin discloses that his parents were killed when he was five years old when they were struck by a train. His aunt, who raised him after his parents passed away, also passed away two years later. Although he did not disclose any additional information about his upbringing, it is known that he spent his formative years in a boys' home run by the Catholic church in the state of Iowa.

He had a difficult childhood.

In turn, Elizabeth's father was a "God salesman," meaning that he preached about the end of the world and made money by selling amulets and baptisms that would protect against the end of the world.

Elizabeth's mother assisted her husband in his endeavors. He was very convincing because of his charisma, his oratory skills, and his ability to fake "miracles" by engineering spontaneous combustion using chemistry, which was a topic that he introduced to Elizabeth.

All of these factors contributed to his ability to win Elizabeth over. Additionally, she had an older brother who took his own life after their parents discovered he was gay and verbally abused him, referring to him as a "aberration." Ultimately, this led to him taking his own life. Elizabeth was very close to her brother, and after he passed away, she found herself in a nearly unsupportable position due to the fact that her parents were frequently away due to work-related travel.

She was able to teach herself how to be self-sufficient and educated herself using the books that were available in the library despite the fact that she had never attended school. Elizabeth's parents eventually divorced, and Elizabeth's mother remarried and moved to Brazil to avoid extradition for tax evasion.

However, Elizabeth's father was arrested and sentenced to prison after one of his "miracles" went wrong and resulted in the deaths of three individuals.

After some time, Calvin and Elizabeth decide to call it a night and have no intention of picking up where they left off in terms of continuing the conversation or revealing any further information about their respective families before they do so.