Woman on the verge of a breakdown - in Territory of Light

Continuing with thoughts from yesterday's post, as we near the end of Yuko Tsuchima's collection of linked stories, Territory of Light (1979 - and I really dislike this abstract and uninformative title) we feel increasingly sorry for the young woman narrator, for for reasons that we wouldn't have expected at the outset of this work/collection/novel. Of course from the set-up - single mom sets out on her new life w/ 3-year-old daughter as they move into apartment on their own - we anticipate a story of a woman in some ways abused of abandoned by her husband and struggling w/ finances, fears, and the stress of combining work and motherhood w/ little family or social support. And, yes, that's all there, to a degree, with the possible exception of abusive or indifferent spouse - her ex may not be the perfect mate, as the two spat about mediation and parental responsibilities, but he's far from villainous and the break-up of the marriage may have more to do w/ the narrator's needs that w/ any malfeasance by the ex - but we really find ourselves sorry for the woman because of her painful incompetence as a mother: drinking too heavily, neglectful at times, unaware of signs of distress on the part of the daughter. Stories/chapters near the end show mother's painful attempt to treat her daughter to an xmas dinner in a nice restaurant when clearly the daughter just wants to be at home; riding a train to the end of the line, some distant station, while daughter is in daycare. Her strangest action, however, concerns her brief sexual affair with a 23-year-old who had been one of her husband's students: The young man visits a few times on Sundays but then seems to break of the relationship. The woman eventually calls him at his home - he is still living w/ his parents, and suggests that he move in w/ her and her daughter, a completely bizarre and awkward suggestions that shows how entirely out of touch and even desperate she may have become. He flatly turns her down and tells her not to callh im again, which is probably all for the best - but may have dire consequences for her and for her troubled child.