62 pages • 2 hours read
Sally HepworthA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The novel’s protagonist, Fern is a 27-year-old librarian with a traumatic past. Fern believes she accidentally caused the drowning of a boy named Billy when she was 12, an event that continues to haunt her. After her mother Nina suffered incapacitating brain damage when she was 12, Fern and her twin Rose were placed in foster care. At the beginning of the novel, Fern is extremely close to Rose and dines with her three days a week. Fern has sensory processing issues, which means that she is extremely sensitive to sights, sounds, and smells. Because of these issues and her propensity to take statements literally, Fern often suffers self-doubt. She navigates the world through Rose, whose judgement she implicitly trusts. Fern believes she is incapable of caring for another person because of Billy’s death. Yet Fern’s complicated self-image is at odds with her excellent performance at work and the high esteem in which her colleagues hold her.
By Sally Hepworth
Beauty
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
Brothers & Sisters
View Collection
Childhood & Youth
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Loyalty & Betrayal
View Collection
Mental Illness
View Collection
Mothers
View Collection
New York Times Best Sellers
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Psychological Fiction
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection