Chapter 13 Summary 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 with Belle in a dark hallway, her mother's gloved hands on her shoulders. Mother is going out for the evening with a man named Chip, and she extracts a promise from Belle: do not enter her bedroom, especially the closet. Belle promises, though she knows she is lying. Mother is dressed in a white Yves Saint Laurent suit, her hair styled by Nicholas into an old-fashioned wave that Belle calls a cloud of S. Belle recalls a recent salon visit where Nicholas called Mother his Elizabeth Taylor, and where Belle tore out a picture of Tom Cruise from a magazine called Sky.

After Mother leaves with Chip in a red convertible, Belle watches from the window. Grand-Maman is in the living room, eating a religieuse and watching All My Children. Belle pretends to go to her room but instead walks to the end of the hall, to Mother's blue-and-white bedroom. She carefully opens the closet door, finds the light switch, and locates Mother's red satin high-heeled shoes on the second shelf from the bottom, third pair from the left. She slips them on, nearly falling, then moves to the vanity to apply Mother's lesser red lipstick, a shade called Rouge by Dior. She spritzes Mother's perfume, which smells of violets and smoke.

In the vanity mirror, Belle sees only the top half of herself and cannot see the shoes. She remembers that Mother used to have a full-length mirror on the back of the bedroom door, but it was taken down. Searching the closet, Belle finds the mirror leaning against the back wall, turned to face the wall. She turns it around, revealing a crack down the middle. She wipes the dust away, hoping to see someone else in the reflection, but she sees only her own face, which she describes as bulbous and monstrous. She removes her gold Eye of Horus bracelet, letting it clatter to the floor, and closes her eyes, imagining herself as the beautiful maiden from Mother's nightly story.

When she opens her eyes, the mirror is no longer cracked. A dark shape shimmers in the glass, gathering into a man. He is beautiful, with dark waving hair and bright blue-green eyes. Belle whispers, asking if he is a prince. He responds playfully, and Belle recognizes him: Tom Cruise, from the movie she saw with Mother and again secretly with Stacey. Tom steps through the mirror, which ripples like jelly, and stands in the closet with her. He hands her a red rose with thorns. His eyes, she notices, are red, not blue-green. He tells her not to tell anyone about him, that it is their secret, from Mother too.

Tom dances with Belle to the song “Take My Breath Away.” He tells her she is beautiful, and she cries, insisting that Mother is the one who is beautiful. Tom lifts her chin and tells her to forget about Mother. He says Mother's Beauty is a lie, a trick, and that Mother is the moon to Belle's sun. He explains that Beauty is a spell, that some have it for real like the sun, but that it can disappear, and that people will do anything to get it back, even steal Beauty that does not belong to them. Belle asks how to take it back, and Tom says, “Magic.”

Tom tells Belle he has to go. She begs him to take her with him. He reveals that his name is not Tom, but Seth. He promises to take her away when the time is right, and that he will give her a sign. Before he can tell her what the sign is, Mother bursts into the closet, having returned to retrieve her white hat. She finds Belle on the floor, the red shoes slipping off her feet. Mother is furious, demanding to know what Belle was doing and who she was talking to. Belle lies, saying she was playing. Mother picks up the bracelet, tells Belle she is never to enter the room again, and sends her to wash her face and stay in her room.

After Mother and Chip leave, Belle is alone in the blue bedroom. The mirror is no longer cracked, and the glass gleams, but Tom is gone. Belle closes her eyes, savoring the secret of Seth.

Key Events

Mother leaves for a date with Chip, forbidding Belle from entering her bedroom.
Belle disobeys, sneaking into the closet and putting on Mother's red high-heeled shoes and lipstick.
Belle discovers a cracked mirror turned to the wall in the closet.
A man who appears to be Tom Cruise emerges from the mirror, revealing his true name is Seth.
Seth gives Belle a red rose, dances with her, and tells her Mother's Beauty is a lie.
Seth promises to take Belle away and says he will give her a sign.
Mother returns for her hat, catches Belle, scolds her, and forbids her from entering the room again.
Belle is left alone, holding the secret of Seth.

Character Development

Belle is shown as a child caught between obedience and desire. She promises not to enter Mother's room while knowing she will disobey, and she lies to Grand-Maman about her whereabouts. Her longing to escape her own body is explicit: she wishes she could slip out of her skin like a suit. The encounter with Seth gives her a fantasy of being seen as beautiful, but it also deepens her internalized shame about her appearance. She removes the Eye of Horus bracelet, a symbol of her father's watchful presence, suggesting a desire to be free from surveillance.

Mother is portrayed as controlling and beauty-obsessed. She forbids Belle from entering her room, and her anger when she catches Belle is sharp and frightening. Yet her face softens when she remembers Chip is watching, revealing that her Beauty is a performance. Her return for the hat underscores her fear of the sun and aging.

Seth is introduced as a deceptive, seductive figure. He appears as Tom Cruise, a symbol of Hollywood beauty, but his red eyes and cold, sticky hands hint at something sinister. He tells Belle that Mother's Beauty is a lie and that Beauty can be stolen, planting the seeds of the novel's central conflict.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Beauty as a lie or trick: Seth explicitly tells Belle that Mother's Beauty is a lie, a trick, and that the moon's illumination is just a trick from the sun's light. This reframes the novel's central concern with beauty as something performative and deceptive.
Mirrors as portals: The cracked mirror in Mother's closet becomes a doorway for Seth. It is turned to the wall, suggesting it is dangerous or forbidden. Belle's hope that the mirror will show her someone else reflects her desire to escape her own identity.
Red shoes as forbidden sexuality: Belle knows the red shoes are for sex, and wearing them makes her feel powerful and adult. They are also the shoes she is wearing when Mother catches her, linking them to transgression.
The sun as enemy: Mother's fear of the sun is reiterated, and Belle's drawings now show the sun with angry eyes, shooting death rays. This motif connects aging and tanning to loss of beauty.
Secrets and secret-keeping: Belle keeps the secret of Seth from Mother, just as she keeps her friendship with Stacey a secret. The chapter emphasizes the power and burden of secrets.
The rose as a gift: Seth gives Belle a red rose with thorns, a fairy-tale symbol of love and beauty that also carries a hint of danger.
The Eye of Horus bracelet: Belle removes the bracelet, symbolizing her rejection of her father's watchful eye and her desire to be free from observation.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal because it introduces Seth, the mysterious figure who will shape Belle's adult life. The encounter in the mirror establishes the novel's supernatural elements and the idea that beauty can be stolen. Seth's claim that Mother's Beauty is a lie plants a seed of doubt in Belle's mind, deepening her resentment of Mother and her own self-loathing. The chapter also reinforces the novel's themes of secrets, forbidden desire, and the destructive pursuit of beauty. Belle's decision to keep Seth a secret sets the stage for the novel's later events, where she will be drawn back into his world.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Belle remove the Eye of Horus bracelet before looking into the mirror?

Belle removes the bracelet because it represents her father's watchful eye, a constant reminder of being observed. She wants to be free from that surveillance, and she feels lighter without it. The bracelet's removal also signals her willingness to enter a space of secrecy and transgression, where she can imagine herself as someone else.

2. What does Seth mean when he says Mother is the moon to Belle's sun?

Seth uses the moon and sun as metaphors for beauty. He says the moon's illumination is just a trick, a stolen light from the sun. He implies that Mother's Beauty is borrowed or fake, while Belle's is genuine, like the sun's own light. This reinforces the novel's theme of beauty as a lie or a trick, and it positions Belle as the true source of beauty, even though she does not believe it.

3. How does the chapter use the game “Honestly” to develop Belle's self-image?

The game “Honestly” is a cruel ritual where girls close their eyes and ask if they are beautiful, with raised hands counting as votes. When Belle plays, only one hand is raised, and she knows it is Stacey's. This experience confirms her belief that she is not beautiful, and it explains why she is so vulnerable to Seth's flattery. The game also shows how the girls internalize and enforce beauty standards, a theme that runs throughout the novel.