Chapter Twenty-Seven Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The morning after the discovery of a dead body on the mansion property, Daisy wants to stay home, but her mother insists she go to school. Outside, she sees the mansion wrapped in yellow caution tape, with shrikes already weaving pieces of it into their nests—one nest even holds a half-eaten mouse impaled on a thorn. She turns away and heads to King's house.

When she gets into his truck, she returns his coat and hat and hands him a small terra-cotta pot containing a basil plant. She explains it's a thank-you for his help in keeping his mother and aunts from ruining the Airbnb and for trying to help her inside the house. King is surprised and touched, and Daisy recalls how giving Megan a mint plant had once sparked their friendship. She admits she's making an exception to her no-friends rule.

During the drive to school, King deliberately avoids mentioning the dead body, but as soon as Daisy walks the halls, she hears whispers about it. She retrieves her backpack from Ms. Kuru's class and becomes acutely aware of her memory gaps: she finds herself in a desk, the class ends, and she can't recall the lesson; she discovers completed homework she doesn't remember doing. She reflects on her move to Timmins—Noah is fading, but she sees him more clearly, and she wonders why she's in a field of sunflowers when she doesn't even like flowers. She thinks about the house feeding on people, about people giving something up to escape it, and she resolves to stop it. She believes her mother can't help, so she needs to learn the house's history and how it works.

After school, she asks King for help—the second time she's ever done so. They drive to Mackenzie's house on Bonaventure Drive, a wealthy street. Mackenzie welcomes them warmly and shows them a family tree and old photos. She reveals that Peter, Daisy's uncle, died of a brain aneurysm, and his father died in an ice-fishing accident. The mansion was built by their ancestor during the gold rush. Mackenzie explains that her mother is Peter's first cousin, and that Peter was estranged from the family—but not because they rejected him; her mother simply hated him. Mackenzie's grandfather had experienced strange whispers in the house and threw tantrums to avoid going, but her mother dismisses it as bullying by Peter's father. The house would have gone to the grandfather, but he didn't want it, so Peter inherited it. Daisy photographs the photos. Mackenzie also mentions that Daisy once said she did ballet and contemporary dance at her old school, but Daisy has no memory of that.

Ms. Gagnon arrives and greets everyone. She remembers Daisy's mother, Grace Odlin, who came with friends to drop off old photographs for her father. She mentions a sensationalized incident involving a goat, but when Daisy asks, she clams up and changes the subject. She leaves to start dinner, and Mackenzie mentions that they'll get their palms read. Back in the truck, Daisy asks King if the town has a library.

Key Events

Daisy sees the mansion wrapped in caution tape and shrikes nesting with impaled prey.
She gives King a basil plant as a thank-you, and they drive to school.
At school, she experiences memory gaps and hears whispers about the dead body.
She reflects on the house's feeding and her determination to stop it.
She asks King for help, and they visit Mackenzie's house.
Mackenzie reveals Peter's cause of death (brain aneurysm) and his father's death (ice-fishing accident).
She shows family tree and photos, explaining the house's gold-rush origin and the family's avoidance of it.
Ms. Gagnon mentions Grace's visit with friends and alludes to a