A Stranger in the House

“Tom looks back at her in dismay. ‘You must know. You had a car accident. You were speeding and hit a pole.’ ‘I don’t remember,’ she says slowly, as if it takes every bit of her remaining energy to say it.”

It is sometimes difficult for people to accept that amnesia is real, although amnesia patients are being truthful when they say they have memory loss. It is telling that in the hours after the accident, Tom is already beginning to question his wife’s honesty and truthfulness—he finds it hard to believe she truly does not remember how the accident happened. Tom’s repeated assertions about what “You” (Karen) did also emphasize his attempt to jog her memory, as though by firmly stating the facts, he can get her to come clean about what happened.

“‘I couldn’t remember, but one of the nurses told me you kept mentioning someone called Robert. Does that name mean anything to you?’ He looks at her curiously.

Her heart is racing now. She slowly shakes her head back and forth, pursing her lips as if thinking hard. ‘No,’ she says. ‘I don’t know anyone by that name.’”

This exchange between Dr. Fulton and Karen Krupp is an early indication that Karen is harboring secrets and that she is a gifted liar, invoking The Impact of Secrets on Relationships. She lies to Dr. Fulton about not recognizing the name “Robert,” and she adds in a theatrical flourish to drive this point home: She “purs[es] her lips as if thinking hard.” However, the fact that the question makes her heart “rac[e]” indicates that she is not being truthful in her denial.

“Tom freezes. He doesn’t know how to answer. Normal Tom, before all this happened, would have said, Sure, let’s take a look. But this is postaccident Tom, who doesn’t know what his wife was up to when she fled their house and crashed her car. What if there’s something she’s hiding, something the police shouldn’t find?”

Soon after the accident, Tom begins to suspect that his wife might have been involved in criminal activity. He is on the path to realizing she has committed premeditated murder. This is a key moment of Tom’s development because instead of leaving his wife vulnerable to police investigation, he turns them away so they do not find any potential evidence. This shows his loyalty to his wife despite his growing realization that she is not who he thought she was.

“She remembers how frightened she’d been. All those times she’d come home and found things slightly out of place, subtle signs that someone had been going through her things. It had scared her. And Tom knew nothing about it.”

This passage illustrates the theme of The Impact of Secrets on Relationships. It shows that because Karen kept her suspicions about a stalker from her husband and Brigid, she had to deal with that fear alone. If she had been honest about her suspicions, they may have uncovered the stalker sooner and in turn exposed Brigid’s own secrets—i.e., that she is obsessed with Tom and determined to get him away from Karen. Karen’s suspicions about the moved objects are also an allusion to the novel’s title, A Stranger in the House, although it will eventually be revealed that the “stranger” is not a stranger at all, but Brigid.

“He waves back and drives away down the street, worrying about what the future holds. Wondering about what secrets his wife might be keeping.”

This scene illustrates the theme of The Façade of Suburban Perfection. From outside, it would seem like Tom is simply a caring husband waving goodbye to his wife as he drives away from their “handsome” suburban home, the very ideal of a typical marriage. However, Tom’s internal reflections show that he is troubled about the “secrets his wife might be keeping” underneath that façade of perfection.

“She wishes she could tell her why she’s so frightened. But she can’t tell her best friend, or her husband, the truth.”

The language here is an additional clue that Karen is afraid of someone from her past, about whom she has not told Brigid or Tom. The narrative implies that she is afraid of someone who hurt her. However, this is a misdirection, as it is later revealed Karen is afraid Robert Traynor has discovered where she is and wants his money back.

“Does she really not remember that night? Or is she simply not telling him?

Suspicion is an insidious thing; doubts have started creeping in, things that he’d previously been able to ignore.

Doubts about her past.”

Tom is beginning to recognize that in the past he ignored signs that his wife was hiding things from him, reflecting The Impact of Secrets on Relationships. He describes his growing suspicions as “insidious,” a word that has negative connotations of stealth, treachery, and deceit. It is illustrative of his increasingly troubled state of mind.

“The detective leans forward and adds, ‘A little convenient, having amnesia.’

‘Don’t insult me, detective,’ Karen says, and Tom stares at her in shock. He would never have believed she was capable of such sangfroid. It’s as if he’s looking at a stranger.”

Tom is shaken by this exchange between Detective Rasbach and his wife, Karen. She displays “sangfroid,” or a cold-blooded composure in the face of a tense, difficult situation. This is a quality he has not seen in her before, but it later becomes apparent that this is a core aspect of Karen’s personality that allows her to commit premeditated murder, hinting at The Reinvention of Identity she has undergone.

“She looks at him, her eyes steadily on his. ‘Do you really think I’m capable of killing someone? Do you really think I’m capable of murder?’

No. He can’t imagine her killing anyone. The idea is…ridiculous. Monstrous. And yet—”

Karen repeatedly insists to Tom that she did not commit the murder of Robert Traynor. This is illustrative of her cold-blooded and calculating personality, as the murder was premeditated before her head injury, meaning she is aware that she likely committed the crime. Tom is struggling to reckon with this “monstrous” possibility, which further reinforces the sense that he is struggling to determine whether or not he truly knows and trusts his life.

“Maybe he’s just being paranoid. Or maybe he’s starting to see things as they really are.”

After realizing that the man who “knew Karen from another life” was likely the murder victim, Tom is forced to reckon with his newfound understanding that the world is much darker than he had previously realized. Before the accident, Tom accepted everything in his life without question. Now, he is starting to question things in a new way.

“It had been him, all along. He’d been in their house, coming and going at will. Watching and waiting. The thought of it makes her ill.

But now he’s dead.”

Karen assumes that the stalker who has been going through her things is her late husband Robert Traynor. When she reflects that the “thought of it makes her ill,” this again implies that she is sickened by this revelation because she is afraid of him. However, after it is revealed that Robert was not abusive, this sentiment appears in an entirely different light: She is sick with the possibility that he is going to find the money she stole from him.

“She escaped before—she got away from him, away from Las Vegas, started over.”

Karen’s initial instinct is to run when she realizes the detectives suspect her for the murder of Robert Traynor. This sentence is an early clue that she has adopted a new identity to get away with a crime once before, reflecting her commitment to The Reinvention of Identity whenever it suits her. It also foreshadows the fact that there are many aspects of Karen’s past that Tom is entirely unaware of.

“She knows that detective will recognize her. He’s going to put it together and realize that she’d faked her suicide to run away from her husband, that he found her, and that he called her on the burner phone that night. And he’s going to think she killed him.”

In this quote, Karen reckons with the possibility that the police suspect she murdered Robert Traynor. This is the first time in the novel she directly addresses the shocking secret about her past she has been keeping from Tom Krupp and everyone else in her life: She faked her death and did go to meet him that night.

“For that moment, he tries to forget everything that’s happened, and to focus on how it feels to have her in his arms. Then he pulls away from her and says, ‘Don’t run. Promise me.’

‘I promise.’

He holds her eyes with his; even now, he doesn’t know if he believes her. Is this what life is always going to be like now?”

Instead of pulling away from Karen as her secrets are gradually revealed, Tom grows concerned that she is going to leave him. This is illustrative of the dynamics of their relationship and The Impact of Secrets on Relationships. Although they love each other, Tom is more dedicated to, and honest with, Karen than the reverse.

“Something’s wrong. Her pulse begins to race. Her heart knocks painfully against her ribs and she feels slightly dizzy. She scans the vanity quickly, trying to take in details. It’s her perfume. Someone has taken the stopper off her perfume.

She knows it wasn’t her.”

This is a moment that illustrates how A Stranger in the House creates tension and suspense. It focuses on Karen’s autonomic sensory response to fear: Her heart races, and she feels dizzy. Then, it describes the cause of that fear: Karen’s recognition that even though Robert, the presumed stalker, is dead, someone is still stalking her. This foreshadows the revelation that Brigid has been the real stalker all along.

“Brigid sits and watches out the window; she never tires of it. Every now and then she sniffs delicately at her wrist. She will stay up until Tom and Karen go to bed, until they are safely tucked in and all their lights are out.”

Taken together with the revelation that someone is still stalking Karen described in Important Quote #16, this passage reveals that it is Brigid who is stalking the couple. Brigid is “sniffing […] her wrist.” One typically applies or samples perfume by putting it on one’s wrist. It implies that Brigid is the one who removed Karen’s perfume stopper.

“There’s no mistaking it, she thinks now, the connection they share. Tom loved her once, she’s sure of it, and he will love her again. He will be in her thrall once more, like he was before. Tom knows now what Karen has done, that she’s a murderer, because Brigid was there, and she told him.”

Brigid fantasizes about the life she believes she will have with Tom once Karen is arrested for murder. Brigid reveals herself to be completely delusional here, as her expectations have no basis in reality. The use of the word “thrall” is telling because it implies that she expects Tom to be enslaved to her will. Ironically, Tom is indeed in Karen’s “thrall” and willing to do anything for her.

“Even if she can’t admit the truth to him—maybe she can’t even admit it to herself, maybe she’s completely repressed it from her conscious mind—he thinks he still loves her, this different, terribly wronged, Karen.”

Despite everything that has occurred, Tom continues to give his wife Karen the benefit of the doubt. He wonders if “maybe she can’t even admit [the truth] to herself.” The irony is that in doing so, he shows that he himself is unwilling to consider the truth that his wife is a cold-blooded murderer.

“‘They found a gun!’ Tom practically shouts at the lawyer. ‘They found a gun in the garage! They think it’s the murder weapon!’”

This is a moment of action that creates tension in the novel. It is the most animated, expressive, and obviously afraid Tom has been throughout the work. The repeated exclamation points and the note that he is “practically shouting” indicate his level of panic.

“‘There’s our reasonable doubt,’ Karen says. ‘I’m being framed by my crazy neighbor across the street. Because she’s in love with my husband.’”

In order to be convicted for murder, the defendant has to be found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” This is a high legal standard. Karen can credibly accuse Brigid of committing the crime, as Brigid also had means, motive, and opportunity, which creates reasonable doubt. The rapidity with which Karen realizes this following Tom’s confession about what Brigid witnessed is a sign of her cool, calculating nature.

“Didn’t he feel the way she did, now that they are lovers again? But he hadn’t come back last night. He’d stayed somewhere else, and she felt as if her whole world was falling apart. He was avoiding her. What can she do to bring him back?”

In this passage, Brigid comes to terms with the fact that her delusional belief about her future with Tom was a fantasy. Her reaction to this realization is extreme and hyperbolic: She feels “as if her whole world was falling apart.” This reaction shows the depths of both her delusions and the strength of her feelings about him.

“‘I want us to make a fresh start,’ he said. She’d never seen him look more serious. He reached out and held her by her arms, brought his face close to hers, and said, ‘No more lies. Promise me, Karen.’

He was gripping her, hard. She looked back at him intently. She said, ‘I promise, Tom, no more lies. I swear.’”

Karen is a talented liar and she does it unashamedly. Tom is convinced by her lies both because she is an unashamed liar and because he wants to believe her. This dynamic is underlined here when Karen “look[s] back at [Tom] intently” and promises she will no longer lie to him, even as she continues to lie to him about what truly happened in her past life. Her refusal to admit the truth ensures the couple will continue to experience The Impact of Secrets on Relationships.

“What is love anyway, she thinks, but a grand illusion? We fall in love with an ideal, not a reality. Tom loves who he thinks she is. He’s proven himself to be remarkably adaptable in that regard. She loves who she thinks he is. And that’s the way it is the whole world over, she tells herself, watching out the train window, people falling in and out of love, as their perception of reality changes.”

This passage provides insight into how Karen justifies her actions despite her sincere love for Tom. It also further develops the theme of The Impact of Secrets on Relationships. Karen argues that everyone has secrets in their relationships and that one actually loves the image of the other person, i.e., who they present themselves to be. This is a deeply cynical way of seeing the world and reinforces her true calculating nature.