The Maidens

Zoe tells the story of her aborted initiation: Edward was fond of the Eleusinian rites in honor of Persephone, which took participants “on a journey from life to death and back again” (319). She was instructed to meet the group at midnight near the river, where she was given kykeon, a barley water drink spiked with GHB, which Edward bought from Morris. Edward put a knife to her throat but did not cut her; instead, he hid the knife between two rocks. The other women danced naked and swam in the river, but Zoe did not want to undress. Edward kissed her and then Tara, who had appeared. Zoe managed to get away and never spoke of it with anyone again. Tara found her later, telling her that Edward threatened to kill her (Tara).

When Mariana asks why she is finally telling her story, Zoe reveals that she has received a postcard.

Mariana changes her mind and decides they need to leave for London immediately, but Zoe refuses, determined to catch Edward. She brushes off Clarissa’s insistence that they go to the police, saying the police will not listen unless they have evidence. Mariana agrees to go with Zoe to the spot where Edward hid the knife and sends her to her room to shower and change. After she leaves, Mariana tells Clarissa to go to the police if anything happens to her.

As Mariana heads towards Zoe’s room to convince her to leave for London immediately, she receives a call from Fred, who urges her to run: He had a premonition that she is in mortal danger. Annoyed, she hangs up. Zoe’s room is empty, presumably because she is still showering. Mariana looks fondly at Zoe’s personal items and recalls her praying for everyone she loved as a child. Falling to her knees, Mariana prays to Persephone and then notices that Zoe’s stuffed zebra has fallen to the floor. She picks it up and sees a letter peeking out from three loose stitches in the zebra’s belly. She begins reading.

The first-person narrative, now revealed to be a letter to Zoe, concludes with the narrator writing that he never saw his mother after she left. He thought that he was incapable of love until he met Zoe. Once his “brilliant, beautiful” plan, which “involves blood—and sacrifice” is complete (329), they will be together.

Mariana finishes the letter, dazed, terrified, and convinced that Edward wrote it. She stuffs it back into the zebra as Zoe returns. Gazing at her young niece, Mariana wonders where “that beautiful, innocent child” went (331). Thoughts of returning to London leave her mind, and she follows Zoe, who takes them down the river to the spot where she claims the knife is hidden. Feeling that she is being followed, Mariana turns around and sees Fred slip behind a tree.

As they travel quietly down the river, Mariana struggles to make sense of the letter. A swan appears, and they make eye contact, causing Mariana to shiver. Zoe comments that Mariana is “being so weird” (334).

After they dock the boat, Zoe retrieves the bloodstained knife and turns it on Mariana. Mariana admits that she read the letter and urges Zoe to see that she has been victimized by Edward. Zoe reveals that Sebastian, not Edward, wrote the letter. Mariana is both stunned and not, feeling that “she had always known” on some level (338).

Mariana accuses Zoe of lying, but Zoe insists that she and Sebastian were in love. They had been lovers since Zoe was 15. Sebastian only married Mariana for her money and to be near Zoe. Mariana turns to run away.

Zoe follows Mariana through the woods, taunting her. Sebastian killed Mariana’s father after he caught him and Zoe having sex, and he planned the Maidens’ deaths to blame Edward for a series of ritualistic murders that would culminate with Mariana’s. She had ruined the plan by taking Sebastian to Naxos, where he died, but Zoe has carried out the plan in his honor. She has been manipulating Mariana from the beginning. Though it was hard to murder Tara, it was also a relief for Zoe to see herself clearly and know what she is capable of.

She raises the knife, and Mariana grabs her arm. The two women wrestle, sending the knife flying. While Zoe hunts through the grass for it, Fred appears. Mariana tries to warn him, but Zoe plunges the knife into his back, turns him over, and prepares to strike him again in the chest. Mariana smashes her over the head with a rock and calls the police.

The police charge Zoe with murder, and two ambulances take away her and Fred, who is in critical condition but alive. Mariana is in a state of shock. Sangha reveals that the university has fired Edward, who was sleeping with all the Maidens. Morris confessed to blackmailing Edward.

Mariana remains in shock for a long while. Her father and Sebastian merge into one person in her memory, and she realizes Ruth was right that her father was “central to her story” (353). Mariana stops holding group therapy as she no longer feels capable or confident helping others. She visits Fred, thankful that he saved her life and open to a future relationship. Zoe, who is now Theo’s patient, is “declared unfit to stand trial” (352), attempts suicide several times, and has a psychotic breakdown. Theo wants Mariana to visit Zoe, but she cannot bring herself to do so. Her old life and self have died.

One day, she receives a letter from Theo telling her that he believes she is lucky to be alive. He asks that she consider Zoe to be a victim too, adding that it might help Mariana heal if she visited her. Though Mariana is initially angry with him, Theo’s words eventually resonate, and Mariana decides to go see Zoe.