That's Not My Name Ending Explained: Megan Lally's Final Reveals, Character Fates, and Unresolved Threads

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

The Literal Ending: A Fight to the Death

The novel’s climax takes place in the basement of Wayne Boone’s cabin, where Lola Scott — who has been forced to believe she is Mary Boone — is chained to a cot. After her memory returns in full, she realizes that Wayne is her kidnapper, not her father. Drew has tracked her down after seeing Wayne carry her into the cabin, and he breaks in to rescue her.

The two teenagers fight Wayne together. Drew is brutally beaten and nearly strangled, but Lola manages to free herself from the handcuffs using a pair of clippers. She then grabs a fire poker and drives Wayne back across the room. In a final, desperate move, she kicks him down the basement stairs. He lands at the bottom, motionless, and does not get up. Lola confirms he is dead. Drew, bloodied and gasping, appears at the top of the stairs, and they escape the house just as police sirens approach. Officer Bowman and five other officers arrive on the scene.

The fight is not just physical; it’s also psychological. Wayne has spent days gaslighting Lola into believing she is his daughter, and his delusion is so complete that he genuinely thinks he is saving her from a life of “sin.” Lola’s final scream — “That’s not my name, you asshole!” — is the moment she reclaims her identity and rejects his entire narrative.

Character Fates

Lola Scott (the girl who calls herself Mary): She survives, though she is badly injured — a broken nose, bruises, and psychological trauma. She is rescued and taken to the hospital. In the epilogue, she has changed her appearance (dyeing the underside of her hair blue) to distance herself from the media attention and from her resemblance to the missing girl whose identity she was forced to assume. She reaches out to Drew months later, checking on him, and ultimately helps him light a candle for Lola’s birthday.
Drew: He survives the fight but carries deep guilt. He believes he left Lola vulnerable to Wayne because he let her walk home from his car the night she disappeared. He has refused therapy despite his dads’ urging, and he struggles to function — he can’t sleep, eat, or attend school. In the epilogue, he is at the boat launch where he and Lola used to park, on what would have been her birthday. Madison’s revelation that Wayne began searching for a new victim the day after Lola disappeared helps him understand that Lola died almost immediately, and that no one could have saved her. He still grieves, but he allows himself to share memories of Lola with Autumn and Max.
Wayne Boone: He dies in the basement, killed by Lola’s kick down the stairs. His body is later removed by authorities. The epilogue mentions a rumor that he was cremated and his ashes thrown in the trash — a detail Drew hopes is true.
Madison: She is the girl Wayne kidnapped after Lola. She is rescued from the basement (though she is not present during the final fight; she is found later). She survives and, in the epilogue, visits Drew to thank him and to tell him the truth about Lola’s death. She has changed her appearance to avoid being seen as “the girl who escaped Wayne Boone.”
Autumn and Max: They help Drew in his search, and in the epilogue they join him at the boat launch to share stories about Lola. They are a couple by that point.
Sheriff Roane: He mishandled the investigation, initially suspecting Drew. After the case breaks, he resigns and signs on to consult for a docuseries about the case. The town’s anger shifts from Drew to Roane, and he becomes the most-hated man in the county.
Officer Bowman: He is the officer who first found Lola in the ditch and later arrives at the cabin with backup. He is portrayed as more competent than Roane, though he initially accepts Wayne’s story that Lola is Mary Boone.

Resolved Threads

Lola’s identity: The central mystery is resolved. Lola regains her memory, remembers her name, and is reunited with her family (though the book doesn’t show the reunion directly).
Wayne’s delusion: The novel makes clear that Wayne genuinely believes Lola is his daughter, Mary Boone. He is not a cold, calculating manipulator; he is a delusional kidnapper who has done this before. The names scratched into the basement wall — Alison, Krissy, Courtney, Arely, Bekah, Carly, Sheena, Ashley — reveal that Lola is not his first victim. He has held other girls in that basement, and they all scratched their names before they died.
Drew’s innocence: Drew is cleared of any involvement in Lola’s disappearance. The police find no blood in his car, and Wayne’s computers reveal that he began searching for a new victim the day after Lola disappeared, proving she died almost immediately.
The immediate threat: Wayne is dead, so he can no longer harm anyone.

Unresolved Threads

The fate of the other victims: The names on the wall suggest many girls were held and killed, but the book does not reveal what happened to them or whether their families ever received closure. Madison’s comment that Wayne “saved nine families from a lifetime of questions” implies that at least some cases were solved, but the details are left vague.
The real Mary Boone: Wayne claims Lola is his daughter, but there is no evidence that a real Mary Boone ever existed. It’s possible that Wayne invented the identity entirely, or that he kidnapped a girl named Mary Boone years ago. The book never clarifies.
Roane’s docuseries: The epilogue mentions that Roane is consulting on a true-crime series, and Drew fears it will bring more media attention. The series itself is not shown, so its content and impact remain unknown.
Lola’s family’s grief: The epilogue focuses on Drew’s grief, but we don’t see how Lola’s parents or friends process her death. The book ends before any funeral or memorial is shown.

Theme Resolution

The ending directly addresses the novel’s central themes.

Identity and self-reclamation: Lola’s final act — screaming “That’s not my name” — is the ultimate rejection of Wayne’s forced identity. She reclaims her name and her past, even though she cannot undo the trauma.
Gaslighting and psychological control: Wayne’s manipulation is exposed as a delusional projection. He believes he is saving his daughter from sin, but his control is rooted in violence and coercion. Lola’s escape shows that even the most thorough gaslighting can be broken.
Grief and survivor’s guilt: Drew’s guilt is a major thread. He blames himself for Lola’s death, but Madison’s revelation that Wayne began hunting for a new victim the day after Lola disappeared proves that Lola was killed almost immediately — before anyone could have intervened. This doesn’t erase Drew’s grief, but it reframes his guilt.
Memory and trauma: Lola’s memory returns in fragments, and the novel shows how trauma can suppress and then restore memory. Her recovery is not clean; she is left with physical and emotional scars.
Mistrust of authority and vigilante justice: The police, particularly Roane, fail to investigate properly. Drew and his friends take matters into their own hands, and it is Drew who finds Lola, not the authorities. The epilogue shows the town turning on Roane, but also highlights the fickleness of public opinion.

The Epilogue: Four Months Later

The epilogue is set on Lola’s birthday, four months after the rescue. Drew is at the boat launch where he and Lola used to park, holding a red velvet cupcake he can’t bring himself to light. He is consumed by guilt and has refused therapy. Madison arrives, having changed her appearance, and tells him that Wayne’s search for her began the day after Lola disappeared — meaning Lola died almost immediately. She helps him light the candle, and then Autumn and Max join them. The three share stories about Lola until sunset.

The epilogue is not a happy ending; it’s a bittersweet one. Drew is still grieving, but he is no longer alone. Madison’s visit gives him a new perspective on his guilt, and the presence of friends offers a path forward. The final image is of a group of people remembering Lola, not as a victim, but as a person they loved.

Interpretations

Wayne’s delusion as a metaphor: Wayne’s insistence that Lola is Mary Boone can be read as a metaphor for how abusers impose false identities on their victims. He doesn’t see Lola as a person; he sees her as a vessel for his fantasy of a “pure” daughter.
The names on the wall: The scratched names are a powerful symbol of resistance. Each girl left her mark, hoping someone would find it. Lola adds her own name to the list, ensuring that she is not forgotten.
Drew’s guilt as unresolved: Even after Madison’s revelation, Drew’s guilt doesn’t fully disappear. The epilogue suggests that grief is not something to be “fixed” but something to be carried.

Reader Questions

1. Who is the girl who calls herself Mary?

She is Lola Scott, a seventeen-year-old who was kidnapped by Wayne Boone. After being hit and falling down an embankment, she loses her memory and is convinced by Wayne that she is his daughter, Mary Boone. Her memory returns in the basement, and she remembers her true name.

2. Does Wayne Boone survive?

No. Lola kills him by kicking him down the basement stairs after hitting him with a fire poker. He dies at the bottom of the stairs, and his body is later removed by authorities.

3. Why did Drew feel so guilty?

Drew believed he left Lola vulnerable by letting her walk home from his car the night she disappeared. He thought that if he had acted sooner, he could have saved her. Madison’s revelation that Wayne began searching for a new victim the day after Lola disappeared proves that Lola died almost immediately, so Drew’s guilt is based on a false assumption.

4. What is the significance of the names scratched into the basement wall?

The names — Alison, Krissy, Courtney, Arely, Bekah, Carly, Sheena, Ashley — are the names of other girls Wayne kidnapped and held in that basement. They are evidence that Lola is not his first victim, and they serve as a memorial to those who didn’t escape. Lola adds her own name to the list, ensuring she is remembered.

5. What happens to Madison after the rescue?

Madison survives and is reunited with her family. In the epilogue, she has changed her appearance (dyeing her hair blue) to distance herself from the media and from her resemblance to Lola. She visits Drew to thank him and to tell him the truth about Lola’s death.

6. Is there a sequel or a continuation?

No. The book ends with the epilogue, and there is no indication of a sequel. The story is self-contained, though some threads (like the fates of other victims) are left open for the reader to imagine.