54 pages • 1 hour read
Reckless Girls: A Novel
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Part 4-Interlude 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Now” - Part 6: “Now”
Part 4, Chapter 8 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, substance use, and cursing.
The group can see the island a full day before they reach it. Lux is entranced by the sight and suddenly understands why Brittany and Amma wanted to visit such a remote place. When they pull into the island’s small, natural harbor, it’s even more beautiful. Lux is struck by how wild and remote it seems and how much it resembles a postcard of a desert island. Her reverie is interrupted by the sight of another vessel in the harbor—an expensive catamaran named the Azure Sky. Nico, Brittany, and Amma all react negatively at the sight of it. As they pull closer, its captain calls out, “Ahoy!” To Lux, he appears wealthy (she’s gotten used to assessing people’s class background while doing restaurant and hotel work), and he has a weather-beaten appeal. He introduces himself as Jake Kelly. He’s traveling with his girlfriend, Eliza. He invites the foursome to a beach party that night. Lux finds Amma crying below deck. She cryptically says that now that they’ve arrived, their vacation is on its way to being over. Lux wonders why she is so upset and reflects on how “prickly” she can be.
Part 4, Chapter 9 Summary
Jake and Eliza are both beautiful, witty, and fun to be around. They engage in easy banter that Lux enjoys. They make a bonfire, and Eliza prepares an elaborate dinner including oysters, fresh asparagus, and many bottles of excellent wine. Although Amma still acts upset, the rest of the group has a fun first night together. When Jake jokingly brings up Meroe Island’s grim history of cannibalism, Eliza laughs him off with a loud “Boo!”
Interlude 4 Summary: “Before”
In Rome, Brittany began to feel better. She had been unable to eat for months but now found herself interested in food again. Almost as quickly, she began to sob uncontrollably, making her question the progress she’d made. She reflected that she and Amma had only one “terrible thing” in common and that other than that, they didn’t really know each other. She wondered why they were there together. The women discussed returning home early, but then they met Chloe.
A letter from Private First Class Leonard Ames to his family recounts the beauty of Meroe Island and also its lurid history of cannibalism. He writes about enjoying the opportunity to see the world. He will be declared missing in 1943 and dead in 1950.
Part 5, Chapter 10 Summary
Lux, Nico, Brittany, and Amma wake up the next morning with hangovers. They run into Eliza and Jake on the beach, who invite them to hang out. Lux and Amma would rather swim and head to a nearby cove. While in the water, they see their first shark. They knew that the waters surrounding Meroe Island were notoriously shark infested, but the experience is still jarring. Lux and Amma swim to shore as quickly as possible, diffusing the tension in the air with humor. Amma, who readily admits that she does not warm to new people as quickly as Brittany, tells Lux that she genuinely likes her and is happy that she is on the trip.
Part 5, Chapter 11 Summary
After four days on the island, they decide to explore its jungle. Jake and Nico are stoked to find the World War II-era airstrip, but none of the women are as interested in history. They listen with an air of bored politeness as the two men trade facts about the island’s use as a refueling station during the war. Amma grows increasingly interested in their banter, and Lux cannot help but notice how close she is walking to Nico. She knows that Amma isn’t interested in Nico, but she’s still struck by how good and natural the two look together. Sensing that something is the matter, Brittany quietly asks Lux if everything is okay. Lux shakes off her worries and assures her that she’s fine.
When the group finds the airstrip, it’s underwhelming. During the decades since the end of the war, the jungle has mostly reclaimed it, and it’s now just a cracked piece of asphalt. They head back to the beach. Lux can already taste the wine and is happy to be leaving the dark and forbidding jungle behind.
Part 5, Chapter 12 Summary
On the way back to the beach, Lux finds a human skull. She feels shaken, but the others are excited. Jake and Nico wonder if the skull belonged to a soldier who got “fragged” and joke about people “going crazy” on desert islands. Lux points out that the skull had once been a person, and Brittany seems to understand what she means. Lux thinks about her mother, whose skull was visible beneath her skin at the end of her life. Brittany also appears to be contemplating something deeper. Amma, however, agrees with the guys and points out that it was a person a long time ago but isn’t any longer. Nico wants to keep it for the boat, but Lux adamantly refuses. When they return to the beach, Nico seems frustrated with Lux. They have a strained conversation but make up a few moments later when they both jump into the water for a swim.
Part 5, Chapter 13 Summary
That night, they all decide to hang out on the Azure Sky, Jake’s boat. Lux has too much to drink but feels relaxed and free. When Jake, Eliza, and Brittany decide to go skinny dipping, however, she hangs back with Nico and Amma. Brittany makes a cryptic comment about how funny it is that Amma has become critical of “reckless” behavior, and Amma reddens. Amma, Lux, and Nico head back to the boat together. Amma immediately goes to sleep, and Lux lays in the bunk next to Nico, head spinning, wondering what the source of Brittany’s animosity is.
Interlude 5 Summary: “Before”
Chloe joined Brittany and Amma on their travels. Amma had to admit that Brittany was happier now that they were a trio, but she herself found Chloe insufferable. As Chloe and Brittany chattered endlessly, Amma reflected on how she’d met Brittany. She looked up Brittany’s Facebook page so that she could see the woman whose life she ruined and then engineered a meeting at Brittany’s grief group. She lied to Brittany about their shared trauma, and the two became friends.
Part 6, Chapter 14 Summary
Lux wakes early the next morning. Eliza shows up on the Susannah in their boat’s small dinghy and asks if she can “kidnap” Lux. She takes her on another walk into the jungle, this time to a waterfall with a small pool. The water is brackish and not potable, but the site is beautiful. The two get to talking, and Eliza compliments Lux on her steely inner strength, which she claims that Lux exudes. She asks to know more about Lux. Flattered, Lux tells her about her mother’s death and her father’s bad behavior. She adds that after her mother died, her father showed up to the funeral. Incensed, Lux had screamed at him in the restaurant he invited her to the next day and threw her drink at him. Eliza is thrilled by this story and tells Lux that she did the right thing. Lux asks Eliza how long she’s been with Jake and is surprised when she finds out that the two began dating only a month ago. However, Eliza explains, they’ve known each other since high school. When they return to the beach, they see another boat approaching the island. It looks a little run-down, and no one is happy to have more people on Meroe.
Interlude 6 Summary: “Before”
Jake and Eliza met in high school. Eliza’s mother cleaned Jake’s father’s home. The two began secretly dating before Eliza realized that Jake’s father and her mother were sleeping together. Then, Eliza’s mother was unexpectedly arrested for drug trafficking. Jake’s father convinced her to carry three kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase, but she refused to identify him when she was caught. She went to prison for 10 years, and Eliza stopped speaking to Jake.
In a Twitter exchange, several people discuss the dangers of Meroe Island. Several of those posting warn a third person that the island has “bad vibes,” but the person seems undeterred and vows to visit Meroe.
Part 4-Interlude 6 Analysis
With the introduction of Meroe Island, Hawkins’s setting lays the groundwork for the novel’s thematic engagement with The Psychological Impact of Isolation on Group Dynamics. Characterization remains a key focus during these chapters, but as the days go by, cracks begin to appear in the characters’ various façades—a classic trope of locked-room mysteries. For example, although Brittany and Amma present themselves as best friends, their dynamic grows progressively complex. Amma’s behavior toward Eliza puzzles Lux: She struggles to maintain civility and becomes borderline hostile during many casual conversations. This lack of manners is at odds with the way that Amma presents herself, highlighting a key aspect of her characterization: Amma has been taught to maintain a certain standard of decorum, but she cannot mask her real animosity toward the woman whom she met as Chloe (who now uses the name Eliza).
The isolated location and close quarters exacerbate Lux’s insecurities, pushing her to confront them as the novel builds toward the climax. For example, Amma also begins to show signs of romantic interest in Nico. Here, too, she begins to slip out of the persona she created for herself. In these moments, she’s no longer empathetic and conscientious, and Lux begins to doubt her sincerity, wondering why Amma would pursue the boyfriend of someone she “genuinely” cares for. As Amma’s façade cracks, Brittany’s posture toward her begins to shift. She intuitively understands the impact of Amma’s behavior on Lux and remains poised to take Lux’s side against the woman she’d described as her “best” friend, escalating the tension of the plot.
Over the course of the novel, Lux moves from admiring the confidence of others to embracing confidence within herself, pointing to the novel’s thematic interest in Female Agency and the Reclamation of Power. Lux feels drawn to Eliza because—like Nico—she embodies many of traits that Lux feels she lacks. She’s self-assured and does not share any of Lux’s insecurity about her relationship with Jake. During the scene in which she “kidnaps” Lux for a trek through the island’s interior, Lux shares her backstory with Eliza. Eliza commends her for telling her father off after he refused to finance her mother’s hospice care—validation that encourages Lux’s personal growth. When Eliza hears Lux’s story, she identifies Lux as a woman capable of reclaiming power and agency. Lux does not yet see herself through this lens, but Eliza’s perspective helps her take steps toward her own agency.
Structurally, the novel’s flashbacks continue to reveal more about each character in a piecemeal fashion, heightening the novel’s suspenseful narrative and centering the novel’s thematic interest in Trust and Betrayal in Relationships. During the “Before” section that details Jake and Eliza’s history, the author reveals Jake’s darker side and gestures toward Hawkins’s exploration of wealth and privilege. Although they appear happy, Eliza and Jake’s relationship is marked by betrayal years prior—an ongoing tension in their relationship. Subtly, this flashback also draws parallels between Eliza and Lux: Both women grew up in under-resourced families and were victimized by someone affluent—in Eliza’s case, by Jake’s family, and in Lux’s, by her father. This parallel contextualizes their life choices and foreshadows each woman’s penchant for vigilante justice and “punishing” the wealthy.
Through Lux’s mental comparison of Jake and Nico, Hawkins explores different manifestations of male privilege and generational wealth. Jake is instantly identifiable to Lux as a wealthy man, and she views his affluence as the source of his charisma and confidence. Like Nico, Jake is handsome, but he also seems to own his privilege, as he is unashamed of his wealth and at ease with himself. In contrast, Nico hates discussing his family’s money and makes an intentional effort not to project privilege, wanting to be seen as a “regular guy.” As tensions rise on the island, Nico and Lux’s relationship exhibits signs of stress. Nico’s short temper and irritation with Lux, as well as his interest in Amma, also upset her. As Nico’s attraction to Amma grows more obvious, Lux questions how well she really knows Nico.
Hawkins positions Lux’s aversion to the island’s lurid history as both a product of her personal grief and a rejection of the others’ privileged worldviews. Whenever the group discusses the shipwreck and rumored cannibalism for which Meroe is famous, Lux and Brittany remain bothered by the rest of the group’s jokes. For example, when they happen upon a human skull, the others react with excitement, joking and speculating wildly about its origins, but Lux is upset by the skull because it reminds her of her deceased mother. Unbeknownst to Lux, Brittany also knows what it is like to lose family and also sees the skull through the lens of her grief. Lux feels a particular aversion to Nico’s response, observing, “[T]he biggest issue is that once again something bothered me, something frightened me, and Nico gave exactly zero fucks” (124).
Hawkins suggests that, isolated on Meroe, Lux finds herself at odds with the rest of the group because she’s the only one with a traditional set of personal ethics and the only individual not concealing key parts of their character. Nico, Amma, Eliza, Jake, and even Brittany are all capable of betrayal and, in some cases, even value revenge more than human life. Lux’s differences continue to widen the gap between herself and the other tourists, building suspense.
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