Asher's parents are back from Vienna. Asher had been living with his uncle, aunt and cousins, but now he was able to move back in with his parents. His old room was much too small for him to paint in, so it was decided that Asher would live in his parents' house and paint in his uncle's house.
Since his parents had been away for so long, Asher felt like he didn't know them as well as he used to. He and his parents were separated for a while, and they had had many experiences together that he was not involved in. They had many "inside jokes" that he didn't understand, and it made him feel a lot less close to them, almost left out.
Asher's father has always condemned Asher's art and called it "foolishness" and "a waste of time". When a critic insulted Asher's work by saying that his style was trite and he painted using "Piccasoid forms", Asher was insulted. But most of the critics spoke kindly of Asher's work. When his father saw that Asher was respected in the art world, he was proud. "I'm glad the critics like what you do, Asher. I'm glad you didn't shame us." (278). When Asher was young, he did shame his parents, by not studying and spending all his time drawing. But since he had been successful, they are now proud of him. Asher simply had to prove that he was capable of being a great artist.
Asher's mother has always been very close to both Asher and his father. It is very hard for her when Asher and his father argue with each other, because she is always in the middle of the argument. "Asher. You have no idea what it's like to be standing between you and your father." (285). Asher's mother is torn between her husband and her son, both whom she loves very much.
Later on in the book, a painting that Asher creates about the contrasting feelings of his mother causes a huge amount of controversy among the Ladover.