Chapter summaries The Boyfriend Freida McFadden

The Boyfriend Chapter 42 Summary: Tommy’s Cover‑Up Unravels

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

Complete Summary

School is cancelled after Alison Danzinger’s body is discovered in the river. Tommy spends the day alone at home, obsessively watching the news coverage. He wants to contact Slug but fears the phone lines are monitored. His only real urge is to talk to Daisy.

Tommy’s mother arrives home at about four o’clock carrying a duffel bag. She hugs him tightly, unlike his father who could hurt him. She immediately asks about the dead girl; Tommy confirms Alison is dead, which he now can discuss in the past tense. He takes her bag upstairs to his parents’ bedroom. The bed is unmade from two nights ago, suggesting his father never slept there—a detail Tommy plans to keep ambiguous.

Downstairs, his mother questions him about his father’s whereabouts. Tommy claims his father is at work, but his mother has already called the store and learned he didn’t come in. She notes that his car is still in the garage. Tommy suggests his father might have walked, a claim undermined by his father’s habit of driving drunk. He knew the car would make her suspicious but left it to avoid police discovery.

His mother presses him: did he see his father this morning? Tommy says yes twice. She then notices the missing rug. Tommy explains he spilled cranberry juice on it and threw it out because the stain was too bad. His mother is upset; she loved that rug. Tommy inwardly compares this potential conversation to one he might have if he told her what really happened to his father.

His mother says she will lie down and then make dinner for just the two of them, assuming Tommy’s father won’t be home. Tommy watches her go upstairs, waits for the bedroom door to close, and then returns to watching the news about Alison.

Key Events

  • Alison Danzinger’s body has been found in the river; news coverage is constant.
  • School is cancelled; Tommy is home alone.
  • Tommy’s mother returns from a trip (implied) and greets him.
  • Mother asks about the dead girl; Tommy confirms it.
  • Tommy takes her duffel bag to the parents’ bedroom and notes the unmade bed.
  • Mother questions Tommy about his father’s absence.
  • Tommy lies, saying his father went to work and that he saw him that morning.
  • Mother discovers the father’s car is still in the garage.
  • Mother notices the missing rug; Tommy claims he threw it out after a cranberry juice spill.
  • Tommy internally reflects on how the rug conversation mirrors what he would have to say about his father’s fate.
  • Mother decides to rest and prepare dinner for two.
  • Tommy returns to watching the Alison Danziger news after she goes upstairs.

Character Development

Tommy (Tom)
Tommy’s capacity for deception deepens in this chapter. He lies repeatedly to his mother—about seeing his father that morning, about the rug, and by omission about what really happened. His internal comparison between the rug lie and the truth about his father shows he is aware of the moral stakes but chooses concealment. He also displays a chilling disconnection: he can now refer to Alison in the past tense “all I want,” suggesting he feels relief rather than grief.

Tommy’s mother
She returns concerned and affectionate, but quickly becomes suspicious. She notices inconsistencies—the car, the missing rug, her husband’s absence—and presses for details. Her attachment to the rug (“I really loved it”) humanizes her and heightens the tension, as the reader understands that Tommy has likely destroyed evidence. She is not yet ready to confront the truth fully, as she accepts Tommy’s flimsy excuses and goes to lie down.

Tommy’s father (implied)
Though absent from the scene, the father’s presence looms. The unmade bed, the car left in the garage, and Tommy’s evasion all hint at a serious incident. The narrative strongly implies that Tommy is covering up his father’s death—a death Tommy caused or is responsible for.

Alison Danzinger
Dead before the chapter begins, Alison remains a catalyst. Her murder (or death) is the reason school is closed and the reason Tommy is alone to execute his cover‑up. Tommy’s fixation on the news suggests he is monitoring the investigation.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Deception and Falsehood
The chapter revolves around lies. Tommy lies to his mother about seeing his father, about the rug, about his father’s whereabouts. The repeated lies build a pattern that the reader recognizes even if the mother does not fully.

The Missing Rug (Symbol)
The rug is a physical piece of evidence that Tommy disposed of. His mother’s attachment to it underscores the loss not only of a household item but of the truth. Tommy’s internal comparison—that telling the truth about the rug would be similar to telling the truth about his father—makes the rug a stand‑in for the larger secret.

Surveillance and Isolation
Tommy fears his phone lines are monitored. He is alone in the house, cut off from support. This motif of isolation heightens his paranoia and emphasizes his solitary guilt.

Mother as Detective
The mother’s questions echo an investigation. She calls the store, notices the car, and spots the missing rug. Yet she is not a professional; her love and exhaustion prevent her from pushing further. This dynamic shows how domestic spaces can conceal violence.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point in Tommy’s arc. It confirms that Alison Danzinger is dead and that Tommy is directly involved in some larger crime, likely the disappearance or death of his father. The cover‑up is actively maintained; Tommy destroys evidence (the rug) and constructs an alibi. The mother’s return injects a new obstacle: she is perceptive but not yet willing to see the truth. The chapter builds tension by showing Tommy’s lies becoming more elaborate and his isolation more complete. It also deepens the reader’s understanding of Tommy’s psychology—he is not a panicked amateur but a calculating liar who plans his moves (leaving the car in the garage, disposing of the rug) while presenting a normal front.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Tommy tell his mother he saw his father that morning even though he likely did not?
Tommy lies to create an alibi for the period after his father disappeared. If the mother believes Tommy saw him that morning, she will assume the father left later of his own accord, reducing suspicion that something happened in the house.

2. What does the missing rug symbolize in this chapter?
The rug symbolizes the physical evidence of the crime Tommy is covering up. His mother’s emotional attachment to it contrasts with Tommy’s cold disposal of the rug, mirroring how he has disposed of a person. His internal thought—that telling her the truth about the rug would resemble a confession about his father—explicitly links the rug to the larger secret.

3. How does the chapter use the news coverage of Alison Danzinger to reflect Tommy’s state of mind?
Tommy watches the news “again and again and again” obsessively. This shows his anxiety about the investigation and his need to monitor how much the police know. It also suggests a morbid fascination with his own crime, and the fact that school is cancelled lets him stay home, giving him time to manage the cover‑up.

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