Chapter 7: Lucy Faces the Past and a Mysterious Visitor
⚠️ 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
Chapter 7 opens on Wednesday, 13 February 2019, as Lucy wakes at dawn to the screech of a cockatoo. The pale, liminal light makes her feel outside time, and the dream she had recedes like a room she has just left. Each time she dreams, she remembers more: darkness pressing against her face, women crying and praying, the sensation of holding another hand. The dream feels more real than her actual surroundings, and the sound of the sea seems to have followed her.
Lucy realizes she fell asleep without taking her usual precautions—she did not wedge a chair under the bedroom door handle and likely left the front door unlocked, worried that Jess would not have her keys. She calls out softly but hears no answer, only the creaking of the wooden house. She hopes Jess may have found her and gone to sleep on the sofa downstairs.
Thirsty and needing the bathroom, Lucy gets up. She notices traces of sand on the floorboards and a damp bloom on the ceiling, as if the house longs to be reclaimed by the sea. In the cramped bathroom, she inspects her reflection: shadowed eyes and an oily forehead. The old longing to splash water on her face returns, but she reminds herself of her aquagenic urticaria, diagnosed in infancy. She has built a life around strict routines—keeping her hair short, using wet wipes instead of showering—and never thinks about swimming. Yet the question “Why me and not them?” still surfaces when she sees her parents enjoy water.
As she is about to leave the bathroom, she hears the front door close. Relief and nerves flood through her. She runs a hand over her short hair, wishing she were cleaner, but thinks that it does not matter—they are sisters. She opens the door and calls out Jess’s name. There is no answer, but the creaking stops, as if Jess has paused. Lucy pads downstairs, rehearsing how she will unknot everything and say two simple sentences: “I need you. Help me.” But when she reaches the kitchen, she gasps. A woman is standing there—but it is not Jess.
Key Events
- Lucy wakes at dawn with a powerful, vivid dream of a sister’s hand.
- She notices she left the front door unlocked and did not barricade her room.
- In the bathroom, she confronts her aquagenic urticaria and the suppressed desire to touch water.
- She hears the front door close and believes Jess has arrived.
- She goes downstairs, ready to beg for help, but finds an unidentified woman instead of Jess.
Character Development
Lucy continues to be haunted by her dreams, which grow more detailed and feel more real than waking life. Her physical vulnerability is emphasized by her water allergy, a condition that dictates her daily rituals and reinforces her isolation. The chapter shows her deep longing for connection with her sister Jess, as she immediately prepares to confess her need. The shock of finding a stranger underscores how fragile her sense of safety and belonging is.
Jess remains an off-page presence, but Lucy’s reliance on her is evident. The chapter builds anticipation for their reunion, which is subverted by the intruder.
The Unidentified Woman appears only at the chapter’s end, functioning as an ominous disruption. Her identity is unknown, but she represents the intrusion of the past or of forces beyond Lucy’s control.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Aquagenic urticaria symbolizes Lucy’s disconnection from the natural world and from others. Her allergy to water—the novel’s central element—marks her as different and trapped within her own body.
- Dreaming and memory blur the boundary between past and present. The dream’s recurring details (darkness, hands, women’s voices) suggest a traumatic ancestral memory that Lucy is slowly recovering.
- The house as liminal space is evoked by the sand on the floor, the damp on the ceiling, and the ever-present sound of the sea. The house seems to belong neither to land nor water, mirroring Lucy’s suspended state.
- Sisterhood and isolation are intertwined. Lucy’s yearning for Jess is paired with her inability to fully protect herself (leaving the door unlocked). The arrival of a stranger instead of Jess intensifies her vulnerability.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 7 deepens the novel’s central mystery by revealing more of Lucy’s dream and by introducing an unexpected visitor. It solidifies Lucy’s condition as both a literal ailment and a metaphor for her alienation. The chapter’s setting—dawn, a liminal time—reinforces the sense that Lucy is caught between worlds. The cliffhanger ending raises the stakes: instead of finding her sister, Lucy faces an unknown woman, which forces her to confront the past or a threat she cannot yet name.
Study Questions and Answers
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Question: What does Lucy’s dream suggest about her connection to the past?
Answer: The dream involves darkness, women’s voices, and the feeling of holding a hand, along with the Gaelic phrase “mo dheirfiúr” (my sister). This suggests that Lucy is tapping into a memory or ancestral experience linking her to another woman, possibly a sister from an earlier generation. -
Question: How does Lucy’s aquagenic urticaria affect her daily life and her sense of self?
Answer: The condition forces her to avoid water entirely—she uses wet wipes, keeps her hair short, and cannot swim. It isolates her from normal activities and makes her question why she was singled out, fueling self-consciousness and a sense of otherness. -
Question: Why might the author end the chapter with a woman who is not Jess?
Answer: The ending creates dramatic irony and suspense, subverting both Lucy’s and the reader’s expectations. It suggests that the help Lucy seeks may come in an unexpected form, or that danger has arrived in place of safety, raising the stakes for the next chapter.