Local Woman Missing

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue - Part 1

Part 2, Chapters 2-15

Part 2, Chapters 16-32

Part 2, Chapters 33-46

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

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Discussion Questions

Prologue - Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue Summary: “11 Years Before”

In a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the late 2000s, Shelby Tebow is at home with her baby. Her husband, Jason, comes home. Jason makes excuses for his late arrival, but Shelby knows he is having an affair. After the baby goes to sleep, Shelby leaves, pretending she is going for a run. Instead, she texts a man she knows as Sam, one of several men she hooks up with from time to time. As she walks toward their appointed meeting place, Shelby feels she is being followed and wonders whether Jason believes her lies. When she bends to tie her shoe, a car appears, moving quickly.

Kubica omits the names of the characters in the prologue; we only come to understand who they are later.

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Delilah: Now”

Content Warning: This section mentions child abuse and neglect.

Eleven years later, a sixteen-year-old girl, who believes herself to be Delilah Dickey, lives in captivity in a pitch-dark basement. In reality, the girl is called Carly Bird, though Kubica conceals this from the reader. Carly describes how her captors, Eddie and Martha Cutter, whom she refers to as “the man” and “the lady,” rarely feed or clean her. Martha verbally abuses and neglects Carly. Though Eddie treats her more kindly, the novel implies that he is either sexually abusing or grooming her for abuse.

Shortly after her capture, Carly tried to starve herself. She changed her mind after a boy named Gus, who is later revealed to be her imaginary friend, joined her. One day, against Gus’s advice, Carly keeps a spoon that Martha provided as part of a meal. Using the toilet tank lid, Carly files the spoon to a sharp point. Later, Martha calls Carly to come get her food while Carly is filing the spoon. When Carly is slow to respond and forgets to call Martha “ma’am,” Martha removes the food.

A long time passes without Martha bringing any food or water. When Eddie sneaks down to give Carly a candy bar without Martha’s knowledge, Carly stabs him with the spoon multiple times, then escapes. Once outside, Carly hides in a shed. She looks for Gus, but he is gone. Eddie searches the shed without finding Carly.

The next morning, Carly leaves the shed and finds herself in a rural area with few houses. She walks through fields and a forest for several hours before encountering a woman on a walk. The woman questions Carly and is shocked to hear her identify herself as Delilah Dickey.

Prologue-Part 1 Analysis

In these early chapters, Kubica introduces many of the themes that will recur throughout the work, such as Freedom Versus Captivity, while setting the stage for the main action of the plot. Both chapters are outliers, as Kubica never returns to either Shelby or Carly’s perspective. Structurally, Kubica doesn’t reveal too much information early on, omitting the names of the characters in the prologue. This creates suspense, as readers are left to figure out how these events relate to the narrative. Omitting names also lends the prologue a universal quality; Shelby and Jason’s relationship becomes emblematic of modern suburban life with its tensions and secrets. Kubica also adds mystery by labeling Chapter 1 “Delilah” instead of “Carly,” which is eventually revealed as the young woman’s true identity.

If the prologue offers a typical, if sinister, snapshot of suburban life, Part 1 depicts a much more outlandish scenario. The 11-year jump from the prologue to Part 1 leaves both a temporal and conceptual gap, inviting readers to speculate as to what connection, if any, exists between events in the two sections. This pattern continues throughout the novel, with frequent jumps back and forth across timelines. Stylistically, Kubica takes care to capture Carly’s rural accent, as when Carly uses double negatives or describes herself as being “scared as heck” (48). This is an early clue that she is not Delilah.

Carly’s experiences in this section illustrate the theme of Freedom Versus Captivity. Carly manages to gain freedom through violence, which foreshadow later scenes, such as Bea’s use of violence to protect her own freedom. Carly’s experiences also foil Delilah’s, highlighting them through contrast. Though both are held captive, Carly endures much more severe conditions. Her struggle sets the stage for Kubica to explore The Lingering Effects of Trauma, which we will see as Carly struggles to resume a normal life.