60 pages • 2 hours read
Mary KubicaThe Other Mrs.
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 19-64Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 19-30 Summary: “Sadie”
A note at the beginning of the chapter states that seven weeks have passed since the family’s arrival. Sadie awakes in the middle of the night to the sound of sirens, and both she and Will wonder if there has been an emergency at the home of the Nilssons, the old couple down the street. The frail Mr. Nilsson is often seen pushing his wife up the icy hill in her wheelchair.
Sadie reflects on some of the reasons the family needs a fresh start: Will had an affair in Chicago, and Otto was being bullied at his school. Will inherited the house from his sister, Alice, who had fibromyalgia, a painful and debilitating disease, and died by suicide when she could no longer withstand the pain. Things aren’t much better here. The word “DIE” was recently found scratched into the ice on Sadie’s car window. Sadie thinks this was done by Imogen, who still resents their presence, but Will is worried it has something to do with Otto being bullied again and is reluctant to call the police.
The chapter ends with the Nilssons being seen on the icy road. Sadie has a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something is not right.
Pages 31-38 Summary: “Sadie”
The house’s dark atmosphere expands to the island’s unsettling isolation; it is connected to the mainland by an infrequently running ferry. Sadie is a doctor at the local clinic. When she goes to work, her mind is unfocused, shifting from thoughts of Imogen and Otto in the present to the terrible memory of Otto in handcuffs in the principal’s office.
Will calls and tells her that the reason for the siren the night before was not the Nilssons but Morgan Baines. Sadie goes through a list of possible medical emergencies, but Will tells her it was murder. This is the inciting incident that starts the novel’s chain of events—Sadie is determined to solve the murder.
Pages 39-44 Summary: “Camille”
The narration shifts to Camille, who, like Sadie, speaks in the first person. Camille has a much coarser personality than Sadie and seems to thrive in a seamier lifestyle. This is reflected in her terse manner of speaking.
Camille’s section is a flashback to when she first met Will. She almost gets hit by a taxi but is saved by Will. Immediately enamored with her savior, she invites him to an engagement party that her roommate, Sadie, was invited to, preparing to wear Sadie’s dress and take her place at the party. For a reason not explained, Sadie attends the party with Will rather than Camille.
Pages 45-59 Summary: “Sadie”
There is now police activity on the street as the investigation of Morgan’s murder begins. The Foust family members (except Tate) are questioned, and Sadie and Will confirm that they had been watching television together all evening. Morgan’s husband, Jeffrey, was overseas at the time of the murder (and still has not returned), but Sadie does not discount his involvement.
Will tells the police about the stove’s gas leak, which he did not tell Sadie about and which becomes important later in the story. He also tells them that he had been trying to help Morgan repair her water heater. Sadie is suspicious because Jeffrey is away, and Will is not a handy person. She also remembers clues about a past affair, including a cigarette with lipstick on the filter, hotel charges on credit-card bills, and lingerie.
There is a detailed discussion about Alice and her condition, including that people with fibromyalgia are often doubted and told to see a psychiatrist. The chapter ends with Officer Burg placing a mysterious envelope into Nilsson’s mailbox.
Pages 60-64 Summary: “Camille”
Camille picks up her narrative in the past. She is angry and full of self-loathing after Sadie and Will connect, so she “disappears” for some time. But she is too drawn to Will to give him up, so follows him, intending to seduce him. He is also drawn to her, and the meeting ends with an encounter in a hotel room. She is an intense and manipulative person, always calculating how she will benefit and what she is owed.
Pages 19-64 Analysis
The Foust family’s problems begin to be revealed—Will’s affair, Otto’s bullying, and Alice’s suicide. However, Sadie’s thoughts about “everything” suggest that there is still more that happened. This technique of withholding information and hinting that there is more to the story helps to build suspense, a key aspect of a thriller. Sadie, as a medical doctor, expresses her interest in and empathy for Alice’s fibromyalgia, which makes her lack of focus on her own medical condition and medication, revealed later in the story, somewhat surprising. The longer discussion of fibromyalgia and its dismissal by some as psychosomatic suggests a split in Sadie’s attitude between physical and mental health. She takes physical illness seriously but is quite dismissive of the role of psychiatrists or psychiatric medication in her own treatment at this point.
The word “DIE” scratched into the ice on Sadie’s car window creates a red herring, or a false lead. Red herrings are a common plot device in mysteries and thrillers; in sending readers down false paths, authors build tension and create a greater impact when the truth is revealed. Sadie is initially convinced that Imogen wrote the message, but Will suggests it may have something to do with Otto being bullied again. Both of these suggestions turn out to be false, and Will likely knew it was unrelated to Otto. As the book’s antagonist, he is planting red herrings to divert the investigation away from himself. He is also gaslighting Sadie, causing her to doubt her own reasoning or sanity, a pattern of abuse that he has done to her for years. This is a way that he manipulates and controls her, relating to the theme of Lies and Secrets as Family Dynamics.
The introduction of the second narrator, Camille, adds another layer of intrigue to the story, as it is not yet clear how her intimate connection to Will and Sadie in the past will manifest itself in the present. Camille seems to be quite different from Sadie in personality, appearance, and attitude. Camille has an intense and transactional personality, thinking about how Will will benefit her and what Sadie owes her. At the same time, Camille also narrates in the first person, a shared perspective that foreshadows how Camille is one of Sadie’s alternate personalities. While a foil to Sadie, Camille is also a mirror for Will, as she, too, is ruthless and manipulative.
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By Mary Kubica
