49 pages • 1-hour read
The Surrogate Mother
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 34-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 34 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, and suicidal ideation.
Monica’s mother, Louise Johnson, is not the same woman Abby talked to on the phone. Louise asks what Monica has “done this time” (229), explaining that her daughter has caused trouble since her teenage years. She describes Monica as “unstable,” revealing that they consulted many psychiatrists but that she never received a definitive diagnosis. Louise says that Monica is “a math genius” and that her high IQ makes her particularly dangerous (231). She reveals that in high school, Monica and her best friend, Sandy, argued over a boy. Shortly afterward, Sandy was murdered. Although Monica was the prime suspect, her guilt could not be proven.
Louise explains that Monica cut her parents out of her life after an argument three years earlier. The Johnsons disapproved of their daughter’s affair with her married math professor. Louise confirms that the professor’s name was Sam.
Chapter 35 Summary
Abby reflects that Sam must have stayed with her for her money while having an affair with Monica. She guesses that Monica and Sam have been plotting together for years and that Sam lied about Janelle pulling out of the adoption. She reasons that they both worked to framed her, jointly spiking her food, planting the drugs, and killing Denise. Sam also likely instructed Abby’s attorney to persuade her into a plea bargain. At the same time, Abby struggles to believe that Sam is capable of such ruthlessness. She returns home and searches Sam’s drawers but finds nothing incriminating.
Abby meets Shelley, telling her everything she has discovered. Shelley questions whether it is safe for Abby to be in the apartment with Sam, as he and Monica could be plotting to kill her.
Chapter 36 Summary
Abby returns to the apartment after midnight, finding Sam asleep. However, he wakes up as she tries to read his cell phone messages. When Abby asks if he is having an affair with Monica, Sam storms off to sleep on the couch.
Chapter 37 Summary
Abby wakes up after Sam has left for work. She receives a surprise visit from Gertie, who says that she is worried about Abby. Gertie puts on Sam’s apron and insists on cooking breakfast. As Abby finishes her orange juice and fried eggs, Monica arrives, claiming that Sam sent her. Although reluctant to let her in, Abby feels reassured by Gertie’s presence. Gertie offers to tidy the kitchen while they talk.
Monica tells Abby that she and Sam want Abby to move out and leave them to raise the baby together. As Abby grows dizzy, Gertie appears, no longer limping or using her cane. Gertie tells Monica that she put an entire bottle of sleeping pills in Abby’s orange juice. Monica thanks Gertie, addressing her as “mom.”
Chapter 38 Summary
Monica explains that Louise Johnson is her stepmother and that Gertie is her biological mother. Gertie says that when she learned about Abby’s math professor husband, she knew Sam was perfect for her daughter and encouraged Monica to sign up for his classes. Later, Gertie “engineered” her accident so that Monica could replace her as Abby’s assistant. Knowing how badly Abby wanted a baby, she knew that she would accept the offer of a surrogate mother. Monica explains that she left the pills in her desk, knowing that Denise would find them and contact Abby. It gave her the perfect opportunity to kill Denise while framing Abby for murder.
Monica states that everyone will believe that Abby took her own life with the sleeping pills she was recently prescribed. She produces a gun from her purse and a signed letter in handwriting replicating Abby’s. The letter confesses to Denise’s murder and gives Sam Abby’s blessing to continue with his life and find happiness.
Monica forces Abby into the bedroom at gunpoint, taping up her wrists and ankles. She asserts that since Abby cannot give Sam a child and does not share his passion for math, he will be happier once she is gone. Abby retorts that younger, prettier math students will always be willing to replace Monica when she is tired from childcare and has failed to lose her baby weight. Resigned to her impending death, Abby hopes to make Monica hit her, thereby leaving evidence that she did not take her own life. When the front door opens, they are both taken by surprise.
Chapter 39 Summary
As Sam calls Abby’s name, Monica duct tapes Abby’s mouth and instructs Gertie to hide in the closet. She then greets Sam, claiming that Abby invited her over but then left in an agitated state. When Sam says that he cannot rest until he has worked things out with his wife, Abby realizes that he is not involved in Monica’s plot.
Monica tries to divert Sam, claiming that Abby ordered a taxi to the airport. However, Sam calls Abby’s cell phone and hears the ringtone in the apartment. He bursts into the bedroom and finds Abby.
Chapter 40 Summary
Monica points the gun at Sam. Meanwhile, fighting drowsiness, Abby tries to saw through the tape on her wrists using the nearby radiator. Monica reminds Sam that she was in his algebra class three years earlier. He said that she was a “promising” student but pulled away when she tried to kiss him. Sam admits that he does not recall the incident, as this has happened to him several times. However, he has never been tempted to cheat on his wife since she fulfills all his needs.
Abby frees her wrists and ankles. Meanwhile, Sam lunges at Monica, and she shoots him in the arm. As Gertie emerges from the closet, Abby rushes at her, and in the resulting confusion, Monica shoots and kills Gertie. As Monica trains the gun on Abby, Sam shields his wife, insisting that Monica will have to kill him first. Abby slips into unconsciousness as a third gunshot is fired.
Chapter 41 Summary
Abby wakes up in the hospital with Sam at her side. His arm is bandaged, but he assures her that the wound is superficial. Sam explains that Monica shot herself as Abby passed out. He apologizes for believing that Abby was taking drugs but assures her that he knew she did not kill Denise.
Sam tells Abby that Monica’s baby was successfully delivered after she shot herself. Abby confirms that she still wants to adopt the baby, observing that the fulfillment of their dream has cost Monica’s life. Sam clarifies that Monica isn’t dead.
Epilogue Summary: “One Year Later”
After Monica shot herself, the police found evidence proving that she and Gertie killed Denise. It also emerged that Monica had persuaded Janelle that the Adlers were unsuitable adoptive parents. Monica remains on a ventilator in a comatose state.
Apart from his blond hair, one-year-old David physically resembles Sam and shares his temperament. Since the adoption, Sam has shown surprising skills in cooking delicious baby food.
The Adlers receive an unexpected visit from Louise Johnson, Monica’s stepmother. She confirms that there is no change in Monica’s condition, adding, “Except,” but she does not finish the statement. Louise gives Abby an old yellow blanket, stating that it was Monica’s favorite. Abby notices that it smells of Monica’s lavender perfume.
Sam and Abby agree to throw the blanket in the trash. However, David cries before they can do so, demanding to hold it. Abby relents, and David grabs the blanket, happily inhaling the lavender scent.
Chapter 34-Epilogue Analysis
The novel’s suspenseful climax delivers two key plot twists: Louise Johnson’s apparent revelation that Monica is having an affair with Sam and Abby’s discovery that Gertie is Monica’s mother. These narrative surprises recontextualize the characters, underlining the theme of Deception and Trust in Relationships. Reflecting, “Yesterday I would have told you I know him better than anyone else in the world” (237), Abby is forced to reassess her “perfect” husband as a ruthless con artist. Meanwhile, readers are encouraged to reinterpret Sam’s former actions. For example, his earlier suggestion that Abby needed sleeping pills provides the means for his wife’s “suicide.”
In these chapters, the novel’s symbols and motifs take on associations of violence to underline disturbing progressions in the plot. Clothing is imbued with new figurative meaning when Monica appears at the apartment while wearing “a bright red dress” (248). While red outfits have increasingly signaled Monica’s sexuality, the bright splash of color also evokes blood in this scenario, hinting at her deadly intentions. Furthermore, when Gertie cooks Abby breakfast, the food and drink motif underlines the theme of deception in relationships. Spiking Abby’s orange juice with sleeping pills, Gertie disguises her malicious plan behind a nurturing gesture of generosity.
McFadden utilizes many of the classic tropes of the psychological thriller to heighten narrative tension. In the dramatic final confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist, Monica’s mask drops completely as she reveals the full extent of her plan. Bound, gagged, and drugged, Abby is depicted in an apparently hopeless situation. Time is also against her as the sleeping pills take effect. Nevertheless, the protagonist demonstrates her resilience by using her intellect to fight back. Abby’s attempts to provoke Monica into hitting her illustrate a determination to thwart her adversary, even if she dies in the process. Sam’s appearance at the scene gives Abby further motivation when his “affair” with Monica is exposed as a red herring. Abby’s eventual triumph over her adversary is signaled when Sam places himself between Abby and Monica’s gun in the ultimate gesture of love. As Abby observes, Monica shoots herself “because she kn[ows] [Abby] ha[s] won” (273).
The novel’s Epilogue marks the story’s resolution, and McFadden initially presents a “happy ever after” ending. Abby, Sam, and the baby, David, all survive, and the protagonist’s dream of motherhood is fulfilled. However, the plot twist that Monica survived her suicide attempt, albeit in a comatose state, creates a note of unease. Abby’s narration highlights her desire to focus on David’s similarities to Sam as she observes, “In so many ways, David is a clone of Sam” (279). However, Abby’s depiction of David as a replica of Sam is undercut by her admission that his blond hair “is all Monica” (280). Despite Abby’s desire to forget Monica’s existence, David is a living reminder of his biological mother.
Louise’s unexpected visit intensifies the notion of Monica’s lingering presence. Louise’s cryptic statement that her stepdaughter’s condition is unchanged “[e]xcept” for something raises the possibility that she may recover. Furthermore, the baby blanket provides not only a physical link to Monica but also a sensory reminder since it smells of her lavender perfume. David’s excited reaction to the blanket and contented response to its scent imply a primal connection to his biological mother that Abby cannot erase. The novel concludes on an unsettling note, leaving Abby to ponder the relative influences of nature versus nurture on her child. The author encourages readers to suspect that David resembles his biological mother more closely than the protagonist chooses to acknowledge.
Unlock all 49 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs