The Breakdown

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-15

Chapters 16-21

Chapters 22-26

Chapters 27-29

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 27-29Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 27 Summary: “Wednesday, September 30th”

Cass spends the next day gathering evidence of Matthew and Rachel’s schemes. She talks to Hannah about the barbecue invite, obtains a copy of the original security alarm contract (which has Matthew’s signature), and has the Baby Boutique clerk confirm that Rachel ordered the pram. More texts between Matthew and Rachel reveal that they didn’t initially intend for Cass to think the silent calls were from Jane’s killer; that was a lucky coincidence. In addition, they mention moving Cass’s car when she thought she lost it in the parking garage (and then moving it back) and forging the letter about early-onset dementia from Dr. Deakin. Cass talks to John, who explains that Rachel asked to meet him the previous day and urged him to tell Cass’s boss about her overdose. He tells Cass that Rachel isn’t a trustworthy friend. A strange feeling spurs Cass to drive along Blackwater Lane, where a breeze gives her the sense that Jane is with her. For the first time since Jane’s death, she feels peaceful.

When Cass returns home, she finds the large knife in the shed, where Rachel’s texts indicated she’d left it. Cass calls the police and says she found a knife that could be Jane’s murder weapon. She shows them where she found it and tells them the tea towel it’s wrapped in belongs to Rachel. She also mentions Matthew’s suspicious behavior the night of the murder: insisting that she not take Blackwater Lane; sleeping in the guest room due to a migraine; and lighting a bonfire the next day, which he said was to burn branches. Cass mentions Rachel’s argument with Jane the day before the murder and admits that Rachel is having an affair with Matthew. She brings up the possibility—though she doesn’t believe it herself—that Matthew killed Jane because she knew about the affair.

Matthew arrives while the police are still there. They question him about the knife and the night of the murder. When Cass mentions the affair with Rachel, he denies it. In addition, he refuses the police request to go to the station for further questioning, so they arrest him. Next, Cass invites Rachel over and tells her about Matthew’s arrest. She says the police know about the tea towel and her fight with Jane and hints that someone may have turned her phone over to them. Rachel leaves in a panic.

Chapter 28 Summary: “Thursday, October 1st”

The next morning’s news report suggests that both Matthew and Rachel have been arrested in Jane’s murder case. Cass researches restraining orders and has the locks changed on the house. After bagging up Matthew’s belongings and dumping them at Rachel’s door, she meets with her lawyer, who points out that Matthew can be charged in relation to her overdose. Cass gives Rachel’s burner phone to the police, saying she found it in her car that morning. In the evening, Alex calls and tells Cass the police have Jane’s killer in custody, though he doesn’t know who it is yet. Based on Matthew and Rachel’s texts, she assumed neither of them could really be the killer, so she figures this must mean they’ve been released. She goes to bed that night still afraid.

Chapter 29 Summary: “Friday, October 2nd”

A police officer visits to thank Cass for helping identify Jane’s murderer, saying that the killer confessed. Cass is shocked, thinking the officer is talking about Matthew. She’s even more disbelieving when she learns that Rachel confessed to the murder. Officer Lawson explains what really happened. Rachel previously had an affair with a coworker and ruined his marriage. Jane was best friends with the man’s wife, so she hated Rachel. More recently, she caught Rachel with another married man. When she realized that Matthew was both Cass’s husband and the man she saw with Rachel, Jane threatened to tell Cass about the affair. Rachel pretended she was going to end the affair and tell Cass herself and then arranged to meet Jane on Blackwater Lane and killed her.

Rachel’s affair with Matthew wasn’t where her schemes began, however. She purposely seduced Matthew with the intent of using him to get Cass’s inheritance money. She felt cheated when Cass’s parents left all their money to Cass, since they considered Rachel a second daughter. Together, Rachel and Matthew planned to get Cass certified as mentally unstable to gain control of her finances. After learning everything, Cass contemplates Jane’s death and the role it played in guiding her to the truth. She knows she won’t be okay right away, but that in time she’ll get there.

Chapters 27-29 Analysis

In The Breakdown’s final chapters, the setting of Blackwater Lane again becomes significant. In the book’s early chapters, descriptions of Blackwater Lane built tension through an ominous and menacing atmosphere. Now Cass notes:

The trees that line the road are a riot of autumnal colors and the fact there are no other cars around make it peaceful, not threatening. […] I wind down my window and sit for a while, letting the light breeze fill the car. And I feel that Jane is with me (293).

Cass’s experience of this setting, like her relationship to the book’s conflicts, has changed. It now evokes a sense of peace and liberation in her. The tranquil mood of this scene contributes to an increasingly hopeful atmosphere in the story’s resolution, which the final lines reinforce: “As I close the front door behind her, I know that I won’t be [okay], not yet. But one day, I will be. Unlike Jane, I have my whole life ahead of me” (328). For most of the book, Cass is deeply depressed, thematically emphasizing The Impact of Guilt and Fear on Mental Health. She struggles to envision a happy future because she’s convinced that she’s losing her sanity and driving her loved ones away. Cass’s hopeful tone at the book’s end contrasts with those feelings, demonstrating her resilience and underscoring that her despair was the result of external, malicious circumstances, not weakness of character.

Cass’s epiphany that guilt and fear, not dementia, caused her to fall apart spurs her to take action and regain control of her life. Rather than continuing to blindly trust Matthew and Rachel, in her transformed state she looks at facts and accepts the reality that they’re her enemies, thematically resolving The Erosion of Honesty and Trust in Relationships. She stops debilitating herself by taking sedatives and instead arms herself with knowledge and evidence. Cass doesn’t need to stoop to Matthew and Rachel’s level (committing criminal acts) to get revenge. By involving the police, Cass achieves justice while maintaining her integrity. When she learns the truth about Rachel’s motive, she thinks: “I should have understood how devastated Rachel felt at being left out of Dad’s will. How could I have been so insensitive?” (326). Her selfless attitude, in light of everything Rachel did, demonstrates Cass’s inherent kindness. Feeling guilt, like she does here regarding her “insensitivity” toward Rachel, may be an instinctive character trait that will always pose internal conflicts for Cass. It may also prompt introspection into her role in relationships, allowing her to learn from this experience so that no one ever abuses or exploits her in the future. As for Cass’s struggle with guilt over Jane’s death, she resolves this by bringing Jane’s killer to justice. Epitomizing this resolution is her sense that Jane’s spirit, which she felt on Blackwater Lane, led her to the truth.