Chapter summaries Summer Sons Lee Mandelo

Chapter 28 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 Andrew on the phone with West, who is in Dr. Troth's office. Andrew instructs West to tell Troth he plans to drop out of the program—a deliberate provocation designed to bait her into revealing herself. Riley gestures violently against the idea, but Andrew reasons that Troth's eagerness for him to retrace Eddie's steps, combined with her gift of the ring, makes her a prime suspect. He's done letting things happen to him; he wants to set his own trap.

After hanging up, Andrew tests the ring's power at home, reaching out with his inherited abilities. The sensation is alien compared to his familiar haunts—the ring carries more intention, and using it deliberately feels like learning a new set of limbs. Sam warns against messing with such things, but Andrew insists he has no choice. Riley agrees that the haunting needs settling.

Sam kisses Andrew hard before the cousins leave, and Andrew drives home with Riley. Back at Capitol, Riley delivers a warning: Sam has never been serious with anyone before, and Riley isn't sure Andrew is a good thing for his cousin. Andrew admits he doesn't know either. Later, Sam texts: “I don't want to share not even with a dead man.”

The next morning, Troth calls. She says her husband Mark has a copy of the monograph Andrew was looking for, plus notes in Mark's hand, and she's worried Mark might have interfered with Eddie. She invites Andrew to her house. Andrew texts Sam, who agrees to come along. Riley wants to join, but Sam takes him upstairs for a private conversation, and they leave without him.

On the drive, Sam tells Andrew he's “one of mine” and promises to get him sorted out. They discuss whether Mark could have been strong enough to harm Eddie months ago, or whether he might have paid someone. Andrew feels the trap he set has sprung—but he's not sure who's caught in it.

At the Troth estate, Troth welcomes them warmly. She explains that Mark developed a fascination with folktales about staving off death as his health declined, and that she's discovered Mark had been in contact with Eddie without her knowledge. She leads Andrew alone to the library, a windowless room with a glass display case of family heirlooms: combs, a worn Bible, human finger bones, mourning hair lockets, an old knife. The monograph sits on top of a stack of books.

Andrew picks up the monograph. His phone buzzes with a garbled text from Sam. He collapses—the coffee was drugged. Troth and her husband Mark discuss the dosage as Andrew loses consciousness, with Mark noting that “the other one's passed out in the front room.”

Key Events

  • Andrew uses West to deliver a false resignation to Troth, baiting her

  • Andrew tests the ring's power, feeling its alien, intentional quality

  • Sam kisses Andrew; Riley warns Andrew about Sam's feelings

  • Troth calls, claiming Mark has Eddie's monograph and may have interfered with Eddie

  • Andrew and Sam drive to the Troth estate; Riley is left behind

  • Troth reveals Mark's obsession with death-staving folktales and secret contact with Eddie

  • Andrew is led alone to the library, where he sees cursed heirlooms and the monograph

  • Andrew collapses from a drugged drink; Sam is also incapacitated

  • Troth and Mark discuss the dosage as Andrew blacks out

Character Development

Andrew shifts from reactive to proactive in this chapter. He deliberately sets a trap for Troth, using the resignation as bait, and tests the ring's power despite his lifelong repression of his inheritance. His growing comfort with Sam—and his acknowledgment that being “owned” by someone feels comforting—shows a character wrestling with what Eddie's legacy means to him now.

Sam demonstrates deepening commitment. He kisses Andrew openly, claims him as “one of mine,” and insists on accompanying him to the Troth estate despite his discomfort with the supernatural. His text—“I don't want to share not even with a dead man”—reveals jealousy toward Eddie's lingering presence.

Riley continues as the voice of reason, warning Andrew about Sam's feelings and expressing genuine worry for both of them. His concern is dismissed, but his instincts prove correct.

Troth is revealed as the antagonist. Her performance of concern for her husband and her hospitality mask a calculated plan to drug and incapacitate both Andrew and Sam. Her question about the ring suggests she's been tracking Andrew's movements.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Trap and provocation: Andrew's plan to bait Troth backfires spectacularly. He sets a trap, but she's already set one of her own—the drugged coffee and the isolated library turn his strategy against him.

The curse as bond: Andrew reflects that the curse is “his and Eddie's bond,” connecting the hollers to the university. The ring's alien taste and the heirlooms' malevolence reinforce the idea that the curse is a tangible inheritance.

Betrayal and hospitality: Troth's warm welcome, the perfectly prepared coffee, and her performance of vulnerability all mask her true intentions. The chapter inverts the Southern hospitality trope.

Cursed heirlooms: The display case—finger bones, mourning hair lockets, an old knife—literalizes the idea of family history as a haunting. The Troth family's “kept history close” in objects that carry malevolent energy.

Ownership: Sam's “one of mine” and Andrew's comfort with being “owned” echo the novel's broader themes of inheritance and possession. Andrew's inheritance of the Fulton curse and wealth is paralleled by his growing acceptance of Sam's claim on him.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the turning point where Andrew's investigation shifts from passive discovery to active confrontation—and where that confrontation goes catastrophically wrong. The trap he sets for Troth reveals that she's been ahead of him all along, and the drugging of both Andrew and Sam raises the stakes dramatically. The chapter also deepens the romantic thread between Andrew and Sam while simultaneously introducing the threat that Troth and Mark pose to both of them. The revelation of the heirlooms and the monograph in the library connects the Fulton curse to the Troth family's own dark history, suggesting the two families' stories are more intertwined than Andrew realized.

Study Questions

1. Why does Andrew decide to tell Troth he's dropping out, and what does this reveal about his character?

Andrew uses the resignation as bait, hoping to provoke Troth into revealing herself if she's involved in Eddie's death. It shows he's moving from passive grief to active investigation—he's finished with letting things happen to him out of pure coincidence. The move is bold but also reckless, as it gives Troth a reason to act.

2. What does the library scene reveal about the Troth family's relationship to the supernatural?

The display case of heirlooms—finger bones, mourning hair lockets, an old knife—shows that the Troth family has a long history of collecting objects with malevolent energy. Troth's comment that her family kept their history close suggests the curse and the supernatural are woven into the family's identity, not just Eddie's.

3. How does the chapter use hospitality as a mask for betrayal?

Troth's performance is meticulous: the Chemex coffee, the cream and sugar offered to Sam, the apology for the distraction, the vulnerability she feigns about her husband. The drugged coffee inverts the expectation of Southern hospitality, turning a welcoming gesture into a weapon. Andrew's suspicion is present but not enough to save him.

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