The Note

Kelsey Ellis is wealthy, white, and known for being beautiful. She is often considered the life of the party. She works for her father’s real estate company and moves through the world with considerable privilege, although she is only sometimes aware of this fact. Kelsey’s family has deep ties to the Boston area, and her father’s family is associated with the Mafia. Kelsey remains in denial about her father’s potential criminal involvement, choosing instead to focus on the ways in which he positively contributes to her well-being.

Her father, Bill, is overly protective of her and always checks on her whereabouts. Her mother died of ovarian cancer when she was seven, which traumatized her. Her father then remarried a woman named Jeanie, and Kelsey gained a stepbrother named Nate. Kelsey was close to her stepmother until Bill and Jeanie divorced and Jeanie developed dementia. She now has a second stepmother with whom she is not very close.

As teenagers, Kelsey and Nate experimented sexually together. One day, her dad and stepmom walked in on them. This was a contributing factor in the divorce, for which Kelsey blames herself. Nate remained a confidante and one of her closest friends, though they abandoned their sexual relationship. Kelsey was genuinely happy when Nate and May started dating, even telling May of her hope that the two would get married so that she would gain a sister.

Kelsey married Luke, who opened a restaurant with the financial help of Kelsey’s father. Kelsey knew that she would not be able to have children without the help of IVF because she carries the same cancer gene that killed her mother, so Kelsey had her eggs frozen. They were fertilized by Luke, but the couple decided to keep them frozen until they were ready to have children. Meanwhile, their relationship was damaged by pressure from Kelsey’s overbearing father. Her eventual divorce from Luke would have meant that she would not have control of the embryos, but his death put the embryos solely in her possession. All of these factors play a role in contributing to the suspicion that May holds toward Kelsey upon learning of the circumstances surrounding David Smith’s death. The conflicts that arise between the three friends as they struggle to untangle past deceptions and present crises contribute to the novel’s examination of The Burden of Secrets and their long-term effects.

Lauren is the oldest of the three friends. She, May, and Kelsey met at Camp Wildwood, where Lauren was their counselor. A music prodigy, Lauren performed at Carnegie Hall when she was 15. She went on to graduate from Tulane, compose film scores, and direct the Houston Symphony, becoming the first Black woman to hold the position.

Lauren is confident and unafraid of appearing unconventional. Kelsey and May admire her ability to carry herself without fear of others’ opinions. Lauren is often the stabilizing force within the friend group, making sure to keep them connected even when they cannot meet in person. Lauren maintains a leadership role, taking the initiative to make things happen. She plays the role of a big sister to Kelsey and May.

Years ago, when Lauren was a counselor at Wildwood, she began an affair with Thomas Welliver, the owner. He explained that he was essentially married only in name, and she was content with this explanation. Even in the novel’s present-day timeline, his wife wants to remain married in order to maintain her standard of living, but she and Thomas both pursue quiet affairs with other people. Lauren does not have the need to live with a monogamous partner, so she is satisfied with her career and occasional visits with Thomas.

However, after Thomas’s wife emails the Symphony’s Board of Directors about the affair between Lauren and Thomas, Lauren’s credentials and abilities are scrutinized. Rather than recognizing that her achievement was the result of decades of hard work, the media chooses instead to focus on the dynamics of power and racial disparity that led to Thomas’s perceived “manipulation” of Lauren.

Lauren feels frustration with May when May complains about being a model minority with a Harvard degree. May’s experience of racial discrimination has been very different from Lauren’s, and this issue repeatedly emerges as a point of tension between the friends. Unlike May and Kelsey, Lauren does not share many details about her romantic life with her friends. For years, May has wondered about the current status of Lauren and Thomas, and Lauren has always been evasive about this topic, never divulging how much time she and Thomas spend together.