Chapter 27: Trust Your Lust — Summary, Themes, and Analysis

⚠️ 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 chapter opens on a film set in downtown Los Angeles, where Hadley is shooting a scene in a retro music venue dressed up as a wartime London nightclub. The production is a study in controlled chaos: extras mime conversation and laughter in silence, the swing band pretends to play to music only the bandleader can hear through earbuds, and crew members move equipment through the heat outside. Hadley dances with Actor Eddie in a scene where her character, Marian Graves, is meant to be falling for her friend's husband—a fictional echo of the real-life scandal Hadley is currently living through.

The Alexei kiss has broken online, and Hadley's PR team, led by Siobhan, has instructed her to stay silent. The strategy is to issue a brief statement declining to comment on her private life and let the public reaction run its course. Meanwhile, Alexei himself has gone quiet. He doesn't return her texts or calls and eventually emails to say he needs to sort things out, focus on his family, and have no contact with her for a while.

Hadley's internal state is volatile. She describes wanting to scrape away her entire life, abandon everyone she knows, and start over from nothing—to become, in her words, the big bang. Instead of acting on that impulse, she takes a bottle of Scotch to Sir Hugo's house. M.G. drives her the short distance because paparazzi are camped at the bottom of her driveway.

Hugo is blunt. He tells Hadley she is becoming a toxic asset and that the studio can't fire her only because of contractual constraints. He explains that women audiences won't warm to a homewrecker, and the goal is for audiences to see Marian Graves when they look at Hadley, not a tabloid figure. Hadley admits the affair with Alexei didn't feel optional and that she loves him—and that the history goes back well before Vegas. Hugo advises her to relish the pining rather than the relationship itself, noting that she'd probably love Alexei less if she were actually with him. He also asks about Redwood, and Hadley admits she thinks she ruined whatever might have been there.

Hugo's core advice is simple: act, and act extremely well, and don't sleep with anyone else. When Hadley asks how to stop being seen, Hugo cuts through her self-presentation. He tells her she doesn't actually want to disappear—she wants people to wonder where she went. She wants to be seen desperately and is terrified of what happens when no one is looking.

That night, after some weed, Hadley becomes paranoid that her house is wired with cameras and listening devices. She goes outside by the pool, but the dark and the dry Santa Ana winds make that frightening too. She calls Redwood, who answers warily. He explains he'd been planning to reply to her text from Vegas but got confused when the Alexei story broke. Hadley clarifies that there's history with Alexei, that she didn't know he'd be in Vegas, and that the affair is over again—this time because Alexei ended it. Redwood softens but says he can't come over because Leanne is there, though he insists they're just friends. He explains his personal rule: he needs to know the women he sleeps with, which is why nothing happened the night Hadley stayed over.

Hadley tells Redwood she doesn't want to be a wrecking ball anymore, citing Adelaide Scott's advice about knowing what you don't want. She wants to spend time with someone she actually likes. Redwood says they'll talk but has to go. After the call, Hadley considers texting Travis Day to come over but stops herself—a small victory for impulse control. The night no longer scares her. She sits by the pool, feeling unloved and sorry for herself but also, suddenly and pleasantly, invisible.

Key Events

Hadley films a nightclub scene for the Marian Graves movie while the Alexei scandal breaks around her
PR team imposes a media blackout; Hadley issues a no-comment statement
Alexei emails Hadley to end contact, citing family obligations
Hadley visits Sir Hugo, who warns she's becoming a toxic asset
Hadley confesses her love for Alexei predates Vegas
Hugo advises her to act well and avoid further romantic entanglements
Hadley experiences paranoid thoughts about surveillance in her home
She calls Redwood, who explains his confusion and his personal boundaries
Hadley tells Redwood she wants to stop being a wrecking ball
She resists texting Travis Day, a small act of self-control

Character Development

Hadley reaches a low point in this chapter. Her confession to Hugo that she loves Alexei and that the history predates Vegas is a rare moment of honesty, both with Hugo and with herself. Her admission that the affair didn't feel optional reveals how little agency she feels in her own romantic life. The call with Redwood shows a different side: she's vulnerable, apologetic, and willing to be honest about her failures. Her decision not to text Travis Day marks a small but meaningful shift toward impulse control, and the chapter ends with her feeling invisible—which, given Hugo's earlier insight that she craves visibility, is a complicated and ambiguous state.

Sir Hugo functions as a mentor figure who sees through Hadley's self-deception. His observation that she doesn't want to disappear but wants people to wonder where she went is the chapter's sharpest insight into her psychology. He's pragmatic about the business of filmmaking and reputation, but he also shows genuine care in his advice.

Redwood emerges as a cautious, principled presence. His rule about needing to know women before sleeping with them suggests a deliberate approach to intimacy that contrasts sharply with Hadley's impulsiveness. His honesty about being confused by her mixed signals shows emotional maturity, even as he maintains boundaries.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Acting as concealment. Hugo's advice—to act extremely well—frames performance as both a professional obligation and a survival strategy. Hadley's work as an actress becomes a way to hide her real self from public scrutiny, even as the film's fictional story mirrors her real-life situation.

Artificiality of film production. The silent, choreographed chaos of the film set—extras miming joy, musicians pretending to play—underscores the constructed nature of the world Hadley inhabits. The wartime nightclub is a fake version of a real place, just as Hadley's public image is a managed construction.

Visibility versus invisibility. Hugo's claim that Hadley wants to be seen, not disappear, sets up the chapter's ending, where she feels pleasantly invisible. The tension between these states—craving attention while wanting to escape it—is central to her character.

Trust Your Lust. The bumper sticker Hadley recalls—Trust Your Lust—is presented as imprudent advice, and the chapter's title is ironic. Hadley's lust-driven choices have led her to scandal and isolation, and the chapter is partly about learning not to trust that impulse.

Self-destruction. Hadley's fantasy of scraping away her entire life and being the big bang reflects a desire for total reinvention that is also a form of self-erasure.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter crystallizes the central tension of Hadley's storyline: the collision between her private desires and her public persona. Hugo's warning that she's becoming a toxic asset makes explicit the stakes of her behavior, while his insight about her need to be seen complicates any simple reading of her as a victim of celebrity culture. The chapter also deepens the Redwood thread, establishing his boundaries and his cautious interest in Hadley, and it shows Hadley taking her first small step toward self-control. The parallel between Hadley's fictional role—falling for a friend's husband—and her real-life scandal reinforces the novel's interest in how art and life mirror each other.

Study Questions

1. Why does Hugo tell Hadley she doesn't actually want to disappear, and what does this reveal about her character?

Hugo observes that Hadley wants people to wonder where she went rather than truly vanish. He reads her desire for invisibility as a performance in itself—a way of remaining the center of attention even in absence. This reveals that Hadley's identity is deeply tied to being seen, and that her fantasies of escape are themselves shaped by her need for an audience.

2. What does Redwood's rule about knowing the women he sleeps with suggest about his character, and how does it contrast with Hadley's approach to relationships?

Redwood's rule indicates a deliberate, cautious approach to intimacy. He needs time and genuine connection before physical involvement, which stands in contrast to Hadley's pattern of impulsive, passionate entanglements. His willingness to state this boundary plainly—and to maintain it even when Hadley is vulnerable—shows emotional maturity and self-awareness that Hadley is still developing.

3. How does the film set scene at the chapter's opening mirror Hadley's situation?

The set is a constructed version of a wartime London nightclub, filled with extras pretending to be absorbed in their own lives while actually serving as props for the lead actress. Hadley is performing a fictional version of a scandal—falling for a friend's husband—while her real scandal plays out in the press. The artificiality of the production mirrors the managed, performed quality of her public life.