45 pages • 1-hour read
Julie Chan Is Dead
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Chapters 38-50Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, animal cruelty, and sexual content.
Chapter 38 Summary
Julie and Isla explore the island together; it is beautiful and well-maintained, and the staff seem very happy to work there. The island has been owned by Bella Marie’s family, the Melniburgs, for generations. Julie chats with a staff member named Viktor. She also sees a portrait of one of Bella Marie’s ancestors, a man named Nikolai who first began accruing wealth for the family. Nikolai is missing one eye, and Bella Marie alludes to a legend that he traded it for his good fortune to gain wealth and status.
Chapter 39 Summary
As Julie and Isla settle in, they are torn between enjoying the beautiful setting and feeling trapped. They are both distressed by their lack of internet access since they typically lead such online and documented lives, and Isla is increasingly disgusted by the evidence that Bella Marie’s family likely accumulated their vast wealth by exploiting others, including through enslavement, for generations.
Chapter 40 Summary
As Julie spends more time with the other influencers, one of them indicates that Chloe sometimes spoke affectionately about Julie and seemed to care about her sister. This is contrary to what Julie thought, but she reflects that she will never know how Chloe truly felt about her.
Chapter 41 Summary
As part of a “cleansing ritual,” Bella Marie tells all the women to write down something that is weighing on them and burn it. Julie writes down “aunt” because she feels stressed knowing that her aunt knows her secret and might betray her. However, Bella Marie unexpectedly insists on knowing what Julie wrote down. Julie tells the group that her aunt is threatening to reveal secrets about her deceased sister and that she wants to be free of her. The women perform a ritual in which they burn an effigy of Julie’s aunt, which she ends up finding cathartic.
Chapter 42 Summary
The day after the ritual, one of the influencers named Kelly confronts Julie. Since Kelly and Chloe used to be close, she can detect that Julie/Chloe seems to be acting strangely. Kelly tells Julie that if she wants the benefits of the positive energy that the group can manifest for her, she needs to trust them.
Chapter 43 Summary
During a group yoga session, Julie feels inspired and supported by the group of women surrounding her.
Chapter 44 Summary
When the women are discussing how hard they work, Isla points out that being an influencer is hardly a strenuous job. She also tries to get the other women (who, with the exception of Julie, are all white) to see that their privilege as conventionally beautiful white women is a major part of their appeal and success. Many of the Belladonnas are offended, especially Kelly, who says cruel things to Isla. Bella Marie finally quells the confrontation, but Julie is left feeling very guilty that she said nothing to support Isla.
Chapter 45 Summary
Since she is upset, Julie goes for a walk alone. She is surprised to see an elderly woman behaving erratically; the older woman urges her to run away. Confused, Julie watches as staff seize the woman: they also grasp hold of Julie before recognizing her as one of Bella Marie’s guests. Julie realizes the elderly woman is Bella Marie’s mother. Viktor (one of the staff members) explains that she has dementia and memory loss and is receiving care on the island.
Chapter 46 Summary
Since Julie is now even more upset from her strange encounter, Viktor urges her to come with him to chop wood: This is something Chloe apparently used to do to relax. He also makes sexual overtures, revealing that he and Chloe used to have sex when she visited the island; Julie is startled and makes excuses for why she isn’t interested.
Chapter 47 Summary
Julie reunites with the Belladonnas; at first, she is happy to see them, but she becomes uncomfortable when they make jokes about Viktor. She realizes that most of them also have sex with him. Isla is not present at the dinner. Julie becomes increasingly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and affection she receives from the other women and feels a strange sense of elation.
Chapter 48 Summary
In a daze, Julie collapses into her bed. She has a dream in which Chloe taunts and rebukes her for stealing her life and identity. Then the dream turns into a strange reverie in which Bella Marie and the other women greet Julie by her true name, showering her with love and acceptance. They explain that they know she assumed Chloe’s identity, but they don’t judge her for this and were waiting for her all along. Julie passes out, unsure of what is real and what is not.
Chapter 49 Summary
Julie wakes up with the other women scattered around her, indicating that they did in fact come to her in the night. They all now refer to her as Julie, indicating that they know her secret but love and accept her nonetheless.
Chapter 50 Summary
Bella Marie and the Belladonnas explain the secret of their power and success to Julie: They have sworn fealty to a mysterious divine entity known as “Eto.” Bella Marie explains that this same entity gave her ancestor his good fortune generations earlier. Julie is confused but submits to a ritual in which each woman consumes a live baby mouse. She is obsessed with the notion of remaining part of the community of Belladonnas.
Chapters 38-50 Analysis
The Belladonnas are depicted in increasingly cult-like fashion as the plot progresses. On the island, they engage in a manipulative tactic known as “love-bombing,” in which an individual is induced to trust and feel loyal to the group because they are showered with love and affection. Julie is particularly vulnerable to this technique because she longs so deeply for family and community. She has been emotionally isolated for most of her life and is readily susceptible to the idea of a family that loves her unconditionally. Because of the trauma of being abandoned and betrayed by her sister, Julie particularly craves sisterhood, and the Belladonnas seem to create an atmosphere in which they can function as surrogate sisters for her. The increasingly intense and obsessive emotions that Julie experiences reflect the growing theme of The Need for Love and Belonging.
While Julie grows increasingly fixated on remaining part of the Belladonnas, Isla’s frustration erupts when she explicitly calls out the privilege and ignorance of the other women. The island setting highlights the degree to which nothing about Bella Marie can be considered “self-made”: she comes from generational wealth that is likely rooted in the exploitation of others. As Isla comments, “I kept thinking about how her family definitely owned people. Like, owned them” (177). As a Black woman, Isla is sensitive to how Bella Marie’s wealth and privilege is rooted in exploitation; her comments develop the theme of The Pernicious Effects of Unearned Privilege. Isla’s frustration comes to a boiling point when she chastises the other influencers, telling them “let’s talk about appearance and race […] it’s inherent in the business of photo and video content” (201). Isla astutely points out that a visual medium almost always positions individuals who conform to beauty standards to be more successful, and those beauty standards are deeply linked to cultural norms of whiteness.
Julie’s ongoing moral decline is evident in the rift between her and Isla. While Julie can see the logic of Isla’s critiques, she cares too much about the benefits that come with the influencer lifestyle to ever be openly critical. Julie is upset by the lack of empathy that the Belladonnas show to Isla’s point of view during their confrontation, but she says nothing to support her friend. Julie’s silence reflects a sinister aspect of The Need for Love and Belonging: She is afraid of being ostracized by the group and therefore is unwilling to stick up for Isla. Julie’s fears are proven correct since Isla is effectively banished and even locked up for daring to speak her mind, but Julie’s character is growing increasingly corrupt and fixated on her own ambitions at any cost.
The supernatural and horror elements of the novel are heightened with the introduction of the mysterious figure of Eto. The name alludes to “ego,” revealing the core of what is dangerous about this figure: it lures individuals into believing that they are entitled to whatever they want. The plot device of a supernatural figure who strikes a bargain that a character later regrets occurs in other texts such as Macbeth (the witches make predictions that awaken Macbeth’s ambition) and Doctor Faustus (a demon named Mephistopheles tempts the title character into bargaining away his soul). Julie is skeptical about whether Eto can be real, but the fact that the Belladonnas believe so earnestly reveals the extent to which the group functions as a cult and will ostracize or even harm anyone who does not align with their beliefs. The notion of literally “selling one’s soul” symbolizes how the social media economy (and capitalism more broadly) relies on an individual’s willingness to compromise their values and “sell out.”
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