We Live Here Now

Emily Bennett is the protagonist and primary narrator of We Live Here Now. At the start of the novel, she is characterized by physical and emotional fragility in the wake of her near-fatal accident. Emily’s sense of being “broken” illustrates The Legacy of Trauma and the Past. Her lingering physical pain and the scarring on her leg are tangible reminders of the traumatic accident in which she lost a pregnancy. She is also “consumed by a guilt that stops [her] sleeping” due to the workplace affair she concealed from Freddie (12). Emily’s insomnia, combined with the possibility that she is experiencing sensory distortions post-sepsis, casts uncertainty over whether she is a reliable narrator.

Emily’s trajectory from the anxious target of Larkin Lodge’s supernatural phenomenon to a complicit perpetrator in the house’s cycle of violence demonstrates the complex and flawed nature of her character. The first stage of this character arc is her evolution from a passive sufferer of circumstances into an active investigator, piecing together the truth of the house’s history and its role in the lives of the Carters, Carmichaels, and Hoppers. This phase of Emily’s character development underscores her intelligence, resourcefulness, and determination.