Chapter 13: Samantha — Summary, Key Moments, 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

Sam rides with Liam across the city, exiting the freeway onto Donovan Street. The neighborhood below the street is a working-class district of walk-up apartments, neon-lit bars, tattoo parlors, and bodegas, with colorful murals covering the walls. Liam explains that he lives in an area called Tribedo—the triangle below Donovan Street—which marks the edge of the gentrified section of the city. Above Donovan are hipster boutiques and oat-milk coffee shops; below it is a different world entirely. Sam realizes how much of her own city she has never actually seen.

She texts Marshall to let him know she is not staying at the palace, asking him to call her later.

They arrive at Liam's home: a ramshackle Victorian wood-frame house with a drooping second story and peeling paint that was once purple or blue. Liam carries her suitcase up the steps. Sam reflects on how her family has shuffled her aside as if she were a secret, and resolves to prove she can stand on her own two feet—that she is still Samantha, with or without a title.

Inside, the living room is a mishmash of secondhand furniture, with snack bags and pizza remnants on the coffee table and coats thrown over chairs. A boy napping under a blanket on the couch wakes up—this is Ben. Sam introduces herself as Martha, claiming her family kicked her out. Ben teases that she looks like Princess Samantha and mentions that Liam once claimed to have talked to the princess and found her less bratty than she seemed. Sam is startled to learn Liam has told his friends about her, and she is also stung to hear that people think of her as bratty.

Liam shows Sam to a former dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows, where he sets up an air mattress for her. He confides that his parents wanted him to become an accountant like them, and that he sometimes worries he should give up music. Sam encourages him not to second-guess himself, telling him he is talented. Liam turns her advice back on her, telling her not to let her family—or anyone else—make her feel she is not good enough.

The housemates head to Enclave, the bar where Liam's band performs—the same bar Sam snuck out to on her graduation night. Sam learns that all the housemates work there: Amber is the sound tech, Leah and Jessica are bartenders, Talal works security, and Ben and Liam are in the band. The manager, understaffed after a bartender quit, hires Sam on the spot for the night.

Sam works the bar through a sold-out show, making mistakes and slicing her hand on limes, but feeling exhilarated. She earns her first American money—cash that feels momentous because she earned it on her home turf, unlike the money Brad paid her in Hawaii.

After closing, the group gathers for drinks. Jessica asks Sam's favorite song; Sam picks one everyone sings along to. Liam toasts her, and she toasts new beginnings.

Key Events

Sam enters Tribedo for the first time and sees a side of her city she never knew existed.
She texts Marshall that she is not staying at the palace.
She meets Ben and the other housemates, introducing herself as Martha.
Ben notes her resemblance to Princess Samantha, and Sam learns Liam has told his friends about her.
Liam sets up an air mattress in a former dining room.
Liam shares his parents' disapproval of his music career and his own doubts.
The group goes to Enclave; Sam learns they all work there.
Sam is hired as a bartender for the night and works a sold-out show.
She earns her first American money.
The group shares closing drinks; Sam picks a song everyone sings along to.
Liam toasts her; she toasts new beginnings.

Character Development

Sam undergoes a significant shift in this chapter. She moves from being a princess who has never slept on an air mattress or earned her own money to someone who works a bar shift and feels pride in her earnings. Her decision to introduce herself as Martha is both a practical disguise and an emotional experiment: for the first time, she interacts with people who have no preconceived notions about her. The chapter also shows her vulnerability—she is hurt to hear that people think of her as bratty, and she reflects on how complicated families can be, loving and resenting them at once.

Liam reveals more of his inner life. He admits his parents wanted him to become an accountant and that he sometimes worries they are right about music. He shows care for Sam by carrying her suitcase, setting up her room, and defending her to his friends. His advice to Sam—not to let her family make her feel she is not good enough—mirrors her own encouragement to him, deepening their connection.

The housemates are introduced as a found family who work together, support one another, and share their lives in a ramshackle house. Ben's teasing, Jessica's offer to borrow her clothes, and the group's easy camaraderie all contrast sharply with the formal, guarded world of the palace.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Identity concealment and anonymity. Sam's alias Martha, her fedora, and her cropped hair allow her to move through the world unrecognized. The chapter emphasizes how strange it is for her to be looked through rather than at—and how liberating it feels to interact without a host of preconceived notions.

Class divide and gentrification. Donovan Street functions as a literal boundary between the gentrified city above and Tribedo below. Sam's realization that she has never seen this part of her own city underscores how insulated her royal life has been.

Family expectations vs. self-determination. Both Sam and Liam are struggling against the molds their families have cast for them—Sam as a princess, Liam as an accountant. Their conversation about parents trying to turn children into replicas of themselves gives voice to a central tension of the novel.

Found family. The housemates at the Victorian house form a chosen family built on shared work and mutual support, offering Sam a model of belonging that has nothing to do with blood or title.

Self-reliance and new beginnings. Sam's first earned money is a tangible symbol of her independence. The chapter ends with a toast to new beginnings, marking her commitment to this new life.

The air mattress. Sam's unfamiliarity with setting one up—she has only ever slept on handmade Swedish mattresses—symbolizes how far she has fallen from her former life and how determined she is to adapt.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks Sam's full immersion into a life outside the palace. It is the first time she earns money, the first time she is genuinely anonymous, and the first time she experiences belonging based on who she is rather than her title. The chapter also deepens her bond with Liam, as they share their family struggles and encourage each other. The introduction of the housemates and the Enclave community establishes the found family that will likely play a significant role in Sam's journey. Finally, the chapter sets up the central tension of her double life: she is living as Martha, but the risk of being recognized—and the consequences of her family's decision to shuffle her aside—loom over everything.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Sam choose to introduce herself as Martha rather than use her real name, and what does this reveal about her state of mind?

Sam introduces herself as Martha partly as a practical disguise—she does not want to be recognized—but the choice also reflects her desire to be seen for who she is, not what her title implies. She is tired of people making snap judgments about her before they meet her. The alias gives her a chance to interact with people without a host of preconceived notions, and the relief she feels suggests how much the weight of her public image has burdened her.

2. How does the chapter use the geography of the city to comment on class and privilege?

Donovan Street is a literal dividing line between the gentrified section of the city and Tribedo, the working-class neighborhood below it. Sam's realization that she has never heard of Tribedo and has never seen this part of her own city highlights how insulated her royal life has been. The contrast between the hipster boutiques above Donovan and the ramshackle Victorian house below it underscores the class divide that Sam is now crossing for the first time.

3. What does Sam's reaction to earning her first American money reveal about her character development?

Sam's first earned money feels momentous to her—more significant than the money Brad paid her in Hawaii, because she earned it on her home turf, doing real work. Her pride in the cash, despite the mistakes she made and the physical toll of the shift, shows her growing self-reliance and her determination to prove she can stand on her own two feet. It marks a shift from being someone who has always had money given to her to someone who has earned it herself.