An Anonymous Girl: A Novel

Infidelity is a frequent motif in the novel. Dr. Shields, who had previously written a book called The Morality of Marriage, opines frequently about the nature of infidelity and betrayal in the novel as she attempts to determine whether Thomas’s adultery is a singular event—the result of “male fragility”—or a pattern of “systemic fraud.” Infidelity sparks Dr. Shields’s inquiries into The Nature of Morality as she tries to understand if morality is a false notion or if Thomas knowingly made an immoral decision. This preoccupation is her reason for inviting Jessica into her life and organizing the experiment. Thomas was unfaithful to Dr. Shields at least once over the previous summer when he slept with one of his patients, a woman named April. April became preoccupied with Thomas herself and was eventually roped into Dr. Shields’s world, and when she admitted in therapy that she had slept with a married man, Dr. Shields exploited her guilt and manipulated her into suicide. Dr. Shields chooses Jessica to test Thomas because Jessica admits during the initial study that she, too, has slept with men who have partners and because Jessica reminds Dr. Shields of April. Over two months, Dr. Shields uses Jessica to test Thomas, hoping to prove that his affair was not a “referendum” on their relationship. She has Jessica meet up with Thomas, get his phone number, and flirt with him, all the while unaware that Jessica and Thomas end up sleeping together. In the end, all that Dr. Shields finds out is that Thomas is no longer interested in her at all. Thomas’s infidelity illustrates how the decisions one makes can ripple out and affect others in ways that may not have been predicted.