67 pages • 2 hours read
Taylor Jenkins ReidCarrie Soto Is Back
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Comeback”
Chapter 10 Summary: “October 1994”
Five years later, Carrie begins training again, wanting to defeat Nicki. She and Javier start by getting a sense of her serve, her footwork, and her endurance. They also decide to work on her stamina, since she is older than many other players. She runs, swims, and hits every day. After seven days, Javier admits that she is not where she needs to be to win a title. However, he believes that she can do it.
Carrie goes to see her agent, a Black woman named Gwen Davis. Gwen tells her that her sponsorships, based on Carrie’s legendary status, are doing well. Gwen warns that she could likely make more money commentating or as an official than as a player. Carrie tells her that returning to playing is “the only move. [She] cannot conceive of any other future” (87). Gwen says that she is on board. They discuss logistics, and Carrie imagines being back on the court, thinking, “It has been so long since I have felt the perfect ache of climbing” (89).
The next pages feature a press release from Carrie’s agent, a news article quoting Nicki, and a transcript of a sports talk show, each discussing Carrie’s return to professional tennis.
Javier constantly watches the coverage on Carrie’s return. On Morning in America, one of the anchors—thinking that the show has transitioned to a commercial—says, “C’mon, ‘The Battle Axe is back’? We should just say, ‘The bitch is back.’ That’s what she is” (95). Carrie is jarred because, while she knew that they thought that about her, it’s different to hear it said. Javier tells her to “win every goddamn match and […] show them that [she doesn’t] care what they think, [she is] not going anywhere” (96).
Chapter 11 Summary: “Early November”
Carrie is practicing with Javier. She can feel herself improving and returning to her previous shape and form. However, she also feels her age in her body. Everything takes more effort, which frustrates her.
Gwen arrives, bearing bad news. She reports that it’s been difficult to find Carrie someone to practice with. Eventually, she suggests that Carrie practice with Bowe, whom Carrie once slept with and never heard from again. Carrie is hesitant, not wanting to see him. However, she does also want to practice with someone professional.
Bowe calls later while Carrie is watching ER. He thinks it’s a good idea since it can be mutually beneficial. When Carrie points out that he never called her, he says that he said he would, but she told him that their relationship could just be what it was. Her attitude made him think she didn’t want to see him. Carrie says that everyone on the tour thought he was rude. Persistent, he adds that he knows she’s the best and that he can learn from her. Carrie agrees to practice with him.
Two news articles follow the chapter. One is an op-ed from the California Post disparaging Carrie’s return to tennis. The other is from Vivant Magazine. In it, the author, a woman, writes that she’s glad that Carrie is trying. She’s not sure the tennis star will go far, but “[s]ome men’s childhoods are permitted to last forever” while “women are so often reminded that there is work to be done. […] And yet here is Carrie Soto, daring to play” (113).
Chapter 12 Summary: “December 1994”
At first, Carrie repeatedly defeats Bowe. He quickly begins to pick up wins, playing better than he ever has. Javier gives him some advice on his serve. When Bowe leaves, Javier adds that Carrie is also doing better. The next morning, Bowe adjusts his serving stance based on Javier’s advice.
Chapter 13 Summary: “January 1995”
Carrie has been in Melbourne for two weeks, getting ready for the first Open of her return. Increasingly more fans are coming to watch her (and sometimes Bowe) practice. Bowe enjoys the attention; for Carrie, it messes up her game.
After a practice, Carrie and Bowe sit at a bar together, where they discuss his sobriety. Carrie realizes that they’re friends. Carrie has lost to him consistently since they arrived in Australia, and she asks his opinion on why. Bowe attributes it to her lack of stamina; he knows that he can tire her out in the first set so that she slows down in the next. He adds that her mental game is why she didn’t do well that day. She’s planning shots too far in advance. When he messes her up, he can use her anger to his advantage. He tells her to be okay with the fact that her body is older and that it has changed, adding, “If I can mess with your head, if I can get you mad at yourself for not being the Carrie Soto you think you should be—I will beat you every time” (123).
Carrie thanks him, and Bowe asks that she critique his game too. She does, bluntly, and she is surprised when he thanks her. Like her, he wants a big win.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Mid-January”
The first match that Carrie will play in the tournament is against a low-ranked player on a middle court, which means that it was set up specifically to garner a crowd. The night before, Bowe calls and wishes her luck.
Part 2 Analysis
Before Carrie actually begins competing again, the novel explores the effects of her decision to return. The theme of The Meaning of Greatness appears when Carrie speaks with Gwen about her return. Carrie is coming back because she expected to be the greatest player of all time, and Nicki’s rise is calling this into question. Nothing matters more to Carrie than her tennis reputation, so it is only natural that she returns to tennis to hold her title. By the end of the novel, Carrie understands that greatness is subjective, but at this point, it is her driving motivator. She will be the best again.
Part of Carrie’s challenge lies in contending with her age. She has to recognize that her body is going to act and respond differently than it once did. Carrie revels in her return, thinking, “It sends a tiny thrill through me, like I’m a teenager again, staring up a mountain I have yet to scale, each match a step toward the top. It has been so long since I have felt the perfect ache of climbing” (89). She enjoys this part of tennis, though it is often masked by her fear of losing. But it is because of that fear, and because she is unused to playing at her age, that she struggles. Bowe uses her fear and her temper to defeat her in practice. Carrie does not yet face these weaknesses; she only acknowledges that she has to relearn how her body responds.
The theme of The Acceptable Standards of Women’s Behavior also reappears as the press responds to Carrie’s comeback. The way the anchor calls Carrie a “bitch” is a reminder of Carrie’s reputation. Men, especially, hold her in contempt. This time, however, the novel also illustrates the opposite perspective. The letter to the editor in Vivant Magazine shows how women look up to Carrie because she refuses to comply with what is expected of women. Unlike her first run, Carrie has open supporters who admire her bold attitude.
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