Chapter summaries Want to Know a Secret? Freida McFadden

Chapter 37: The Birth of a Toxic Friendship

⚠️ 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

Five years before the present timeline, Julie moves into a new suburban house and is immediately befriended by neighbor April Masterson. April brings cookies, charms Julie, and quickly becomes her closest friend. During a preschool application drop-off, April intercepts and discards other families’ applications to improve her own son’s chances, revealing a manipulative side that Julie dismisses. Julie also receives a flirty text from former colleague Riley Hanrahan, hinting at unresolved tension. The chapter establishes April’s surface warmth and hidden ruthlessness, while showing Julie’s transition from a driven DA to a conflicted stay-at-home mom.

Key Events

  • Julie moves into a suburban house and meets neighbor April, who brings homemade cookies.
  • April learns Julie has a son Leo, the same age as her son Bobby, and proposes playdates.
  • Julie’s older son Tristan is introduced; April offers him a cookie without parental permission, which unsettles Julie.
  • Six months later, April and Julie drive to Sunshine Preschool to submit applications.
  • Julie receives a text from former coworker Riley Hanrahan (“I miss you”) and deletes it.
  • April charms the front-desk worker Heidi while Julie feels socially awkward.
  • April intercepts applications from other parents, then dumps them in a dumpster, claiming to “improve odds.”
  • Julie protests but ultimately goes along, foreshadowing her complicity in April’s schemes.

Character Development

  • Julie: Shown as a former assistant district attorney struggling with the loss of professional identity. She is observant (notices April’s smooth palms, the cookie lapse) but chooses to ignore red flags because she craves friendship. Her guilt over deleting Riley’s text suggests hidden emotional vulnerability.
  • April: Instantly portrayed as charismatic and calculating. She uses flattery, gifts, and social maneuvering to control situations. The dumpster scene reveals her willingness to sabotage others for her son’s benefit.
  • Tristan: A mature, polite four-year-old who mirrors Julie’s disciplined personality. He becomes a foil to April’s pushy friendliness.
  • Keith: Mentioned only briefly as the husband who pushed Julie to quit work and who jokes about April’s intensity.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Appearances vs. reality: April looks “sweet” and “pretty,” but her actions (stealing applications) contradict her friendly facade. Julie’s DA instincts detect unease but are overridden by loneliness.
  • Loss of identity: Julie’s nostalgia for work (“I miss putting people in jail”) and the deleted text from Riley symbolize her sacrifice of ambition for family.
  • Motherhood as competition: The desperate scramble for preschool placement and the playgroup culture satirize suburban parenting pressure.
  • The cookie motif: April’s addictive cookies represent her insidious charm—Julie finds them impossible to resist, mirroring the friendship itself.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 37 is the foundational flashback that explains the entire present-day conflict. It reveals how April ensnared Julie, normalized deception, and established power dynamics. The dumpster scene is the first concrete evidence of April’s evil, directly contradicting the “sweet neighbor” image. Julie’s complicity (she doesn’t stop April) also sets up her later guilt and vulnerability to April’s manipulation. Additionally, Riley’s text introduces a potential romantic subplot that may affect Julie’s marriage.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does this chapter illustrate Julie’s character change from her time in the DA’s office to her life as a stay-at-home mom? Answer: Julie laments that she used to “put people in jail” and now obsesses over a preschool application. She feels her “scary” dark eyes, once an asset in court, are now a liability socially. Her instinct to catch deception (noticing April’s cookie rule) remains but is suppressed by her desire for friendship, showing her internal conflict.

2. Why does April steal the other families’ preschool applications, and what does this reveal about her? Answer: April wants to increase her own son’s chance of admission by reducing competition. The act reveals her ruthless, entitled mindset—she cares only about her own child and is willing to cheat openly. She shows no guilt, laughing at Julie’s protest.

3. What is the significance of the text message from Riley Hanrahan in this chapter? Answer: Riley’s “I miss you” text hints at a past emotional or possibly romantic connection. Julie’s quick deletion and avoidance of the topic with April suggest unresolved feelings and a potential secret that could threaten her marriage. It also contrasts her professional past with her current domestic life.

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