Chapter 17 Summary: Key Events, Themes, 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.
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Summary
By Christmas 2016, Michael has officially become Rachel's boyfriend. Rachel reflects on how surprising this feels—both unexpected and predictable at once. She notices that she and Michael make a visually compatible couple: both tall, olive-skinned, with whitened teeth and thick brown hair. Their significant age gap seems neutralized by their physical similarities, and their cultural differences (his Americanness, her Englishness) are tempered by cosmopolitan backgrounds.
A week before Christmas, Rachel takes Michael to the annual party hosted by her best friend Dominique in her converted loft in Kentish Town. The party is normally wild and drug-fueled, but this year it's more subdued because Dominique is five months pregnant, due in April. Michael is visibly nervous about meeting Rachel's friends on a large scale. Rachel feels protective of him, recognizing that in London he's a lone ranger without a rooted circle of friends or the conversational shorthand that comes from lifelong friendships.
Before the party, Rachel texts Dominique asking her to have Jonathan—Dominique's husband and a tabloid journalist—discreetly investigate Michael's ex-wife and child. Michael has been evasive about his past, and Rachel doesn't want to keep pressing him directly.
During their preparations, Michael mentions remembering the pregnancy phase from his own experience with Lucy, his ex-wife. Rachel feels a spiteful pinch of jealousy at any mention of Michael's past. She drinks wine to numb the feeling, acknowledging that she's not normally a jealous person and disliking how the feeling makes her feel lesser.
At the party, Dominique tells Rachel she's briefed Jonathan and will have a comprehensive report the next day. Dominique teases Rachel about Michael's age, joking that she expected him to look like Rachel's father. Rachel is defensive, noting her father is 63 and old enough to be Michael's dad.
Rachel spots Michael talking to a woman named Ella—small, blond, and effervescent, qualities Rachel finds challenging. She approaches them and behaves possessively, grabbing Michael's arm and pressing herself against him. Rachel briefly sees herself from the outside and realizes she's being clingy, simpering, and insecure—someone she can't bear to be.
Michael teases her about being jealous, then reassures her that she's the only one and that he's the one who should feel insecure given how out of his league she is. Rachel submits to his adoration, even as she feels it diminishing her somehow, making her less.
Key Events
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Rachel asks Dominique to have Jonathan investigate Michael's ex-wife and child.
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Rachel brings Michael to Dominique's annual Kentish Town party, which is more subdued than usual due to Dominique's pregnancy.
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Dominique confirms the investigation is underway, with a report due the next day.
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Rachel behaves possessively when she finds Michael talking to Ella.
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Michael reassures Rachel she's the only one for him, but Rachel feels diminished by his adoration.
Character Development
Rachel: This chapter reveals a deeply insecure side of Rachel that contradicts her self-image. She's not normally a jealous person, but Michael's hidden past triggers feelings she finds uncomfortable and diminishing. Her decision to have Michael investigated rather than confront him directly shows both her avoidance of difficult conversations and her need for control. She's self-aware enough to recognize her own appalling behavior at the party, yet unable to stop herself.
Michael: Michael appears nervous about social scrutiny, fussing over his appearance and asking Rachel about potential threats at the party. He's attentive and reassuring, but his evasiveness about Lucy and his child is the root cause of Rachel's insecurity. His reassurance that Rachel is the only one is delivered with charm, but it also positions him as the one in control of Rachel's emotional state.
Dominique: Pregnant and more subdued than usual, Dominique is still a loyal friend who's willing to use her husband's professional skills to help Rachel. Her teasing about Michael's age highlights the age gap that Rachel tries to minimize.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Jealousy and Insecurity: Rachel's jealousy is the central emotional driver of this chapter. It's triggered not by any actual threat but by the mere existence of Michael's past—a life she can never access. Her jealousy makes her feel lesser and out of control.
Hidden Pasts and Investigation: Michael's evasiveness about Lucy and his child creates a vacuum that Rachel fills with suspicion. Her decision to have Jonathan investigate him transforms their relationship from one built on trust to one built on surveillance.
Possessiveness and Power Dynamics: Rachel's behavior with Ella—grabbing Michael's arm, pressing against him—reveals how insecurity can manifest as possessiveness. Michael's reassurance, while loving, also reinforces his power in the relationship: he can switch Rachel's happiness on and off with a careless comment.
Age Gap and Social Dynamics: The age gap between Rachel and Michael is a recurring undercurrent. Dominique's teasing about Michael looking like Rachel's father, and Rachel's defensive response, show that this is a sensitive subject.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter sets up a crucial plot mechanism: the investigation into Michael's past. Jonathan's journalistic digging will presumably uncover information that could change everything Rachel believes about Michael. The chapter also establishes the emotional fragility of Rachel and Michael's relationship—it's built on Rachel's insecurity and Michael's evasiveness, not on solid trust. Rachel's self-awareness about her own behavior (being someone she couldn't bear) foreshadows potential character growth or, alternatively, a spiral into more destructive behavior.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Rachel ask Dominique to have Jonathan investigate Michael instead of confronting him directly?
Rachel asks for the investigation because she's hit a brick wall when trying to talk to Michael about his ex-wife and child. She doesn't want to keep pressuring him, but she feels strongly that there's something he's not telling her. Rather than risk conflict or push Michael away, she outsources the investigation to Jonathan, a professional journalist. This reveals Rachel's avoidance of direct confrontation and her preference for control through information gathering.
2. How does Rachel's behavior at the party contradict her self-image?
Rachel describes herself as not a jealous person and someone who has never felt this way about any other man's history. Yet at the party, she drinks wine to numb her jealousy, texts Dominique to arrange an investigation, and behaves possessively toward Michael when she finds him talking to Ella. She even sees herself from the outside and recognizes she's being clingy, simpering, and insecure—someone she can't bear. This contradiction between her self-image and her behavior is central to her character development.
3. What does Michael's reassurance reveal about the power dynamics in their relationship?
Michael's reassurance—that Rachel is the only one and that he's the one who should feel insecure—is delivered with charm and apparent sincerity. But Rachel's reaction reveals the problem: she feels his adoration diminishing her somehow, making her less. This suggests that Michael's reassurance, while loving, positions him as the arbiter of Rachel's emotional state. He can calm her fears with a few words, which means he also has the power to trigger them. Rachel's dependence on his reassurance for her emotional stability is a sign of an unhealthy power imbalance.