The Quiet Tenant

Even as Michallon relates the various traumas that “Rachel” experienced before Aidan kidnapped her and held her captive, the author makes it a point to leave the specifics unclear, forcing the reader to reflect on the textual clues and do some independent sleuthing to deduce that either her intended attacker, the cab driver, or an unknown individual sought to take advantage of her in her compromised state and assaulted her. In a recorded book club discussion, Michallon reiterated that her omission of graphic descriptions of sexual violence in the narrative is a mindful choice (“In Crime Fiction, Who Gets to Tell the Story?” Dwyer, Kate. The Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2023). In Michallon’s vision for the novel, women’s experiences are the driving force of the plot. Thus, instead of depicting the visceral horrors of Aidan’s brutality and allowing the narrative focus to shift to the perpetrator, Michallon addresses his actions frankly but with brevity in order to keep the spotlight on the women in the novel. This quirk of storytelling still allows readers to make inferences about Aidan based on a combination of their own knowledge and the reflections of those who encounter Aidan. In this way, the Shared Empathy Between Women gains deeper significance as the plot unfolds, for the narratives of the female characters have a tendency to interweave with each other, and the flow of the storytelling suffers no jarring interruptions from the perspective of the killer himself. Thus, by allowing the voiceless to tell their story and denying Aidan any autonomous voice at all, the author prevents the killer’s own thoughts and words from gaining validity over that of the women in his orbit. His perspective would no doubt disparage the women in the novel, undermining the dynamic of strength, resilience, and personal agency that undergird “Rachel’s” efforts to break free.

Despite the indirect manner in which Aidan’s full actions are described, the author often provides harrowing glimpses of this serial murderer in his worst moments by detailing the last moments of the women he eventually kills. However, given that the story is narrated only by the women who observe him, Michallon leaves many of the details of his process unarticulated. While the brief, terror-filled accounts of “Number One,” “Number Two,” and additional murder victims give a sense of the man’s prowess in the sordid art of killing, they also establish the fact that his crimes conform to a pattern, a system. Thus, “Rachel’s” unique position as his first and only long-term captive indicates a stark shift in Aidan’s process, and by extension, foreshadows his eventual loss of control. For example, “Rachel” observes when she is first brought to the shed that the space is not well-equipped to hold her. Furthermore, Aidan’s impulsive decision to take “Rachel” home with him indicates that she represents a weakness for Aidan, implying his willingness to depart from his careful preparations if the opportunity presents itself. The very fact that he began preparing the shed before kidnapping “Rachel” suggests that he was already considering the possibility of keeping a victim instead of killing her outright. However, his choice to imprison “Rachel” before his preparations could be completed indicates his underlying impulsivity. Similarly, when “Rachel” suggests to Aidan that he should bring her with them to their new home, he is not prepared for the suggestion. Though the household is not conducive to keeping “Rachel” a secret for a long period of time, Aidan, for unknown reasons, decides to take the risk of keeping her in the house long-term. This decision will ultimately force him to intensify his habit of Hiding Key Personality Traits from his daughter, for with this new arrangement, his overt lifestyle and his covertly predatory activities must exist together under the same roof. As the events of the story accelerate in intensity, it is clear that the equilibrium of such a tenuous situation is balanced on a razor’s edge and bound to unravel.