95 pages 3 hours read

Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Book 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 3: “The Ballad of Simon and Eleanor”

Book 3, Chapter 1 Summary: “the naming of things, part I”

The girl who knocked on the dilapidated door in Book 1, Chapter 9 appears in a new world, still hanging onto the broken doorknocker. She only gives up the doorknocker when offered a stuffed bunny. She rarely speaks; no one can determine where she is from, and with her door broken, it would be difficult to send her back. They name her Eleanor, a fact that the painter tells the Keeper when asked. He repeats it, emphasizing the syllables at the end, but the painter does not ask about it, assuming the name has meaning to him.

No one takes charge of the girl they call Eleanor, as each assumes someone else will do it. She goes largely unnoticed as everyone else is busy with their own lives.

Book 3, Chapter 2 Summary

Mirabel and Zachary take Dorian back to the Heart, discussing recent events along the way. Zachary is concerned for his mother, but Mirabel assures him that Allegra will only have Madame Rollins killed if she feels she has no other choice. Mirabel reminds him that Allegra had her chances to kill all of them but has not done so. Mirabel says that she hires people to do the work for her, nudging Dorian as an example.