Sharp Objects

Adora is arrested for the murders of Ann, Natalie, and Marian. Alan pays Adora’s bail, but Amma goes back to Chicago with Camille as ordered by the courts. Camille describes Amma as “wildly needy and afire with anxiety—took to pacing like a caged wildcat as she fired angry questions at me (Why is everything so loud? How can we live in such a tiny place? Isn’t it dangerous outside?) and demanded assurance of my love” (245). Amma initially sees a therapist but quickly refuses to go anymore. Instead, Amma spends most of her time playing with her dollhouse. Camille tries to love Amma, but it’s clear that Amma misses the comforts of her old home and her previous life.

Alan pays for Amma to attend an expensive private school, and Amma quickly becomes friends with a fellow student named Lily Burke. Amma brings Lily over to the house quite frequently, but suddenly stops after accusing Camille of liking Lily more than her. In an act of love that Amma can understand given her unhealthy relationship with Adora, Camille gives Amma a bath and washes her. Camille notes that Amma’s “nakedness was stunning: sticky little girl’s legs, a jagged round scar on her hip like half a bottle cap, the slightest down in a wilted thatch between her legs. Full, voluptuous breasts. Thirteen” (246).

Lily Burke disappears, and four days later her body is found propped against a dumpster near Camille’s house. Six of her teeth are missing. Since Adora can’t be to blame, Camille immediately knows that Amma is the killer. Camille searches Amma’s room. The ivory floor of Adora’s room in the dollhouse is made of “human teeth. Fifty-six tiny teeth, cleaned and bleached” (247). Amma is arrested for the murders of Ann, Natalie, and Lily.