A new chapter may begin after something important has already happened. The book gives us a changed situation and lets us reconstruct the interval. Choose one chapter boundary and examine what the text actually supplies on either side.
Keep two short lists
On one side, record the final situation in the earlier chapter. On the other, record what is different at the next opening: location, relationships, possessions, or a stated passage of time. Use details rather than a general description of the mood.
Now identify the events you assumed occurred in between. Some may be strongly implied; others may simply be the most familiar explanation. Keep those levels of confidence visible in your reading note.
Ask what the omission changes
Would narrating the missing interval make the transition slower, clearer, or less surprising? You do not need to know the author’s intention to discuss the effect on your reading. Compare your first impression with what later pages confirm.
This exercise is particularly useful when a chapter seems confusing on first arrival. The gap may be a deliberate source of uncertainty, or you may have missed a small time marker. Returning to the boundary gives you a precise place to investigate rather than treating every unanswered question as a problem with the whole novel.
