Chapter 10 'The Women': Summary and Character Study

⚠️ 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 at Maman Soho, a café with a South of France aesthetic, where Eva's best friends Cece and Belinda corner her after witnessing her charged exchange with Shane at the previous night's panel. Eva initially tries to deflect, claiming she and Shane merely dated briefly in high school, but under pressure she admits the truth: she wrote as Eight while Shane wrote as Sebastian, and the two were teenage sweethearts. She describes the period as a dark time, revealing that her home life was traumatic and that she was a chaotic, angry kid. Her friends press for more details, but Eva deflects, insisting the relationship burned out quickly. Cece and Belinda exchange knowing glances—they understand there's more to the story, but they also respect Eva's privacy, recognizing that mysterious pasts are common among transplanted New Yorkers. The narrative notes that moving to New York is about reinvention; once you cross the Verrazzano Bridge, you're free to shed your old skin and become whoever you say you are.

Eva's friends try to comfort her, and she admits she felt defective and alien as a teenager, in so much pain it burned through everything—until Shane. Cece suggests they were two aliens who found each other. Eva lies that there was never any magic, just hormones, and swallows a pain pill dry. The conversation shifts to lighter topics, including Belinda's past romance with a bouncer named Kai and Cece's devotion to her hairdresser Lionel, before Eva leaves, noting she has a meeting with a potential director and a parent-teacher conference ahead.

Eva next meets producer Sidney Grace and director Dani Acosta at the Crosby Street Hotel to discuss adapting her novel Cursed into a film. Sidney has owned the film rights for eight months, and a stream of big-name directors have already rejected the project; Dani is Eva's final hope. The meeting starts well—Dani is enthusiastic about the material, and Eva is impressed by her recent indie film The Lady Came to Play. But the conversation takes a sharp turn when Dani proposes casting white actors in the lead roles—Tom Holland as Sebastian and Kendall Jenner as Gia—arguing that two Black leads would handicap the film's commercial potential. Eva is aghast, pointing out that her characters are Black, but Dani counters that they're a fantasy and that whitewashing is necessary to secure real distribution and financing. Eva protests internally, recognizing that Cursed is her version of protest literature and that whitewashing her characters would erase her career. But when Sidney texts her a single word—yes—Eva capitulates, agreeing to the casting. On the subway afterward, she's consumed by shame, wondering where her integrity went and whether she's a sellout. She banishes the thought to the back of her mind, telling herself she can't break down now.

Eva arrives at Cheshire Prep for Audre's parent-teacher conference, confident that her daughter—at the top of her class and popular among her peers—has nothing to worry about. But Head of School Bridget O'Brien delivers devastating news: Audre is suspended. Weeks earlier, Audre posted a Snapchat video of a peer-counseling session with classmate Clementine Logan, in which Clementine tearfully confessed that her mother, Dean of Students Carrie Logan, was having an affair with English teacher Mr. Galbraith. A student screenshotted the video, turned it into a meme, and it circulated all week. Mr. Galbraith has been fired, and the honors board is undecided about inviting Audre back for eighth grade.

Bridget, who reveals a raw, working-class Boston-Irish side once the door is locked, offers Eva a transactional path forward: find a suitable replacement English teacher to bury the scandal, and Audre keeps her spot. Eva is furious at being strong-armed but knows she has no choice. After the meeting, she confronts Audre in the hallway. Audre initially apologizes, then turns defiant, accusing Eva of being a robot who doesn't live her life—who writes books she hates, obsesses over her daughter, and never wants anything for herself. Audre reveals she doesn't even love art; she does it because it's Eva's dream. Her own dream is to be a celebrity therapist with a nail-salon franchise. She asks why her father left, and calls Eva a robot. Eva fires back that she's a robot who has set up Audre's life so her daughter has the freedom to be a butterfly, and that she gives all her time and energy to Audre with nothing left over for herself. She storms off, taking back her cameo ring from Audre's finger.

Outside, Eva sinks onto the school steps, swallows a pain pill, and reflects. She does want things: she wants to see her characters on screen racially intact, and deep down she wants to go to Louisiana to research her dream book—one that would uncover the truth about her bloodline, the wild Mercier women. She realizes she's forgotten how to get what she wants. Shane has been texting her since she fled the diner. And most importantly, she knows an English teacher.

Key Events

Eva admits to Cece and Belinda that Shane was her teenage sweetheart and that she wrote as Eight while he wrote as Sebastian.
Eva reveals her home life was traumatic but refuses to share further details.
Dani Acosta proposes whitewashing the leads of Cursed to secure financing; Eva reluctantly agrees after Sidney texts her to say yes.
Audre is suspended from Cheshire Prep for posting a Snapchat video exposing Clementine Logan's mother's affair with Mr. Galbraith.
Bridget O'Brien offers Audre reinstatement if Eva finds a replacement English teacher.
Audre and Eva have a heated confrontation in which Audre calls Eva a robot and reveals she doesn't love art.
Eva reflects on her buried desires, including researching her family history in Louisiana, and realizes she knows an English teacher.

Character Development

Eva is forced to confront the gap between her public persona and her private self. Her admission to Cece and Belinda—that she was Eight, that Shane was Sebastian, that her home life was traumatic—represents a rare moment of vulnerability. But she immediately retreats, lying about the depth of the relationship and deflecting further questions. Her capitulation to Dani's whitewashing proposal reveals her willingness to compromise her artistic integrity under pressure, and her subsequent shame shows she's aware of the cost. The confrontation with Audre forces Eva to articulate her sacrifices as a mother, but also exposes her buried desires: the dream book about the Mercier women, the longing for the brazen girl she used to be. Her realization that she knows an English teacher suggests she's ready to act on her desires rather than suppress them.

Audre emerges as a more complex figure than the golden child Eva believed her to be. Her Snapchat video was a reckless act with real consequences, but her outburst reveals genuine frustration: she doesn't love art, she wants to be a celebrity therapist, and she resents being defined by her mother's dreams. Her accusation that Eva is a robot who doesn't live her life is cruel but not unfounded, and it lands with enough force to shake Eva's self-image.

Cece and Belinda function as a Greek chorus, drawing out Eva's secrets while also modeling a different kind of friendship—one that respects privacy while offering support. Their banter about romance and passion contrasts with Eva's guardedness, highlighting how much she keeps hidden even from her closest friends.

Bridget O'Brien is revealed as a corrupt, transactional figure who runs Cheshire Prep like a favor economy, trading reinstatement for silence and solutions. Her willingness to bury the scandal if Eva finds a replacement teacher underscores the chapter's themes of corruption and quid pro quo.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Secrecy and hidden pasts dominate the chapter. Eva's admission to her friends is partial at best; she reveals the broad strokes of her history with Shane but withholds the details. The narrative notes that New York is a city of reinvention, where you can shed your old skin and become whoever you say you are—a freedom Eva has fully embraced, but also a prison, since it means her closest friends don't know her true history.

Whitewashing and artistic integrity are explored through the film meeting. Dani's argument that Black leads would make Cursed too niche, and Eva's reluctant capitulation, dramatize the tension between commercial viability and artistic authenticity. Eva's internal recognition that Cursed is her version of protest literature makes the compromise feel like a betrayal of her own values.

Motherhood and sacrifice are central to the confrontation with Audre. Eva frames her life as a series of sacrifices made for her daughter—no dating, no travel, no time for herself—while Audre sees her mother's choices as a refusal to live. The butterfly metaphor appears when Audre says she wants to be a butterfly, flying around following her heart, contrasting with Eva's self-described robot existence.

Corruption and transactional favors are embodied by Bridget, whose school operates on a system of exchanged services—free Botox for a student's reinstatement, free salon visits for a graduation. Her offer to Eva is the same kind of transaction, and Eva's disgust at participating doesn't stop her from agreeing.

Ancestral legacy surfaces in Eva's buried desire to research the Mercier women in Louisiana, a project she's been avoiding because it might upend her and Audre's life. The chapter suggests that Eva's reinvention in New York has come at the cost of confronting her family's history.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point for Eva on multiple fronts. It confirms the central secret of the novel—that Eva and Shane were teenage lovers who wrote as Eight and Sebastian—and shows Eva beginning to let that secret out, even if only partially. It also introduces the film adaptation subplot, which will test Eva's integrity and her relationship to her own work. The suspension storyline raises the stakes for Audre's future and forces Eva to confront her daughter's independence and resentment. Most importantly, the chapter ends with Eva acknowledging her buried desires and realizing she knows an English teacher—a setup that promises to bring Shane back into her life in a practical, purposeful way. The chapter's exploration of reinvention, sacrifice, and the cost of hiding one's true self sets up the emotional and narrative conflicts that will drive the rest of the novel.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Eva agree to Dani's proposal to whitewash the leads of Cursed, and what does this decision reveal about her character?

Eva agrees because Sidney texts her a single word—yes—signaling that the producer wants the deal to go through. Eva is desperate: the film rights have been optioned for eight months, and Dani is her final hope after a stream of directors rejected the project. Her capitulation reveals a willingness to compromise her artistic integrity under commercial pressure, and her subsequent shame on the subway shows she's aware of the cost. The decision also foreshadows the broader theme of Eva suppressing her own desires and values in order to survive, a pattern that extends to her parenting and her buried dream of researching the Mercier women.

2. How does Audre's accusation that Eva is a robot function in the chapter, and what does it reveal about their relationship?

Audre's accusation lands because it contains a kernel of truth: Eva has structured her life entirely around her daughter and her career, leaving no room for her own desires. Audre's claim that Eva doesn't live, doesn't want anything, and writes books she hates forces Eva to confront the gap between her public persona and her inner life. The accusation also reveals the asymmetry in their relationship—Eva sees herself as a sacrificer, while Audre sees her mother as someone who refuses to engage with life. The confrontation exposes the unspoken resentments on both sides and sets up the possibility of change.

3. What role does Bridget O'Brien play in the chapter, and how does her character illuminate the theme of corruption?

Bridget is the head of Cheshire Prep, but she runs the school like a favor economy. The narrative reveals that she's accepted free Botox injections in exchange for keeping a student enrolled, and free salon visits in exchange for allowing another student to graduate. Her offer to Eva—find a replacement English teacher and Audre keeps her spot—is the same kind of transaction. Bridget's willingness to bury the scandal for a solution, rather than for justice, illustrates the chapter's theme of corruption and transactional favors, and it forces Eva to participate in a system she despises.