You Deserve to Know

“He traced his finger across the tattoo of a barbed wire heart centered on the left cheek of her luscious ass.”

Gwen reads this line in one of Anton’s notebooks and while it is presented as part of a fictional text, she believes it is evidence of a sexual encounter that actually took place. The clue leads her to confront Anton, inadvertently leading to her discovery that he is extorting Scott and contributing to the development of a major conflict. Her correct guess that the line alludes to actual events reflects the novel’s exploration of autofiction and blurry lines between fictional and real events.

“Lisa kept her smile pinned to her face, watching in real time as she shrank smaller and smaller in Aimee’s universe.”

This quote uses imagery to reveal the intense insecurity triggered in Lisa by Gwen’s arrival and reveals the motivation for Lisa’s future actions. The metaphor of a smile “pinned” to her face highlights the performative and inauthentic nature of her interactions with Gwen, and her ability to conceal her true intentions. The metaphor of her “shrinking” visualizes her perceived loss of status and control, establishing the jealousy that will fuel the novel’s central conflicts.

“‘Is that blood?’ Aimee asks, holding the shard up to the light.”

After learning Anton is dead, Aimee steps on a ceramic shard in Gwen’s foyer. This moment introduces a key piece of physical evidence that contradicts the official story of Anton’s death and initiates the novel’s mystery. Gwen’s immediate lie about the shard is the first significant deception between the friends. The shard itself acts as a symbol of their shattered domestic lives and the violence hidden within them.

“No, killing Gwen was out of the question. There had to be another way to destroy her.”

During a flashback, Lisa’s internal monologue reveals the depth of her malevolence toward Gwen. The rational consideration and dismissal of murder marks a critical escalation from jealousy to violence. Lisa is willing to go to any lengths to harm Gwen, but she also wants to protect her own carefully curated life and image. Lisa opts to seduce Gwen’s husband, which reveals that destroying someone’s marriage and family is seen as akin to killing them.

“That’s what the fight was about last night. I threw a coffee mug, it caught him on the side of the head. I swear I wasn’t aiming at him.’ The truth marbled through with lies. Can Aimee tell which is which?”

In this confession to Aimee, Gwen carefully constructs a partial truth about her fight with Anton. The metaphor “marbled through with lies” illustrates how Gwen mixes fact with fiction, a technique that characterizes her throughout the novel. This moment establishes Gwen as an unreliable narrator and foreshadows how any information stated by a character could potentially be a mixture of truth and lies.

“Of course Anton hadn’t been able to finish a second book in the past eight years, Gwen thinks with bitterness. He had nothing original to say. He never did.”

Upon discovering that Anton’s celebrated novel was plagiarized, Gwen’s internal monologue reveals a pivotal shift in her perception of her husband. The short, declarative sentences convey the finality of her disillusionment and reinforce the idea that appearances in this suburban world are fundamentally false. This revelation dismantles Anton’s identity as a successful writer and provides an example of how virtually every character in the novel is lying or hiding something.

“Forget ski accidents, or lost wallets, or missing dogs. Here’s something she could take from Gwen, something she would relish taking. Anton.”

This flashback reveals the calculated nature of Lisa’s decision to pursue an affair with Anton, framing it not as an act of passion but as one of revenge against Gwen. The list of petty vengeful acts she dismisses serves to heighten the severity of her chosen weapon. The quotation shows that Lisa’s emotional preoccupation with Aimee is her driving force and that she is not motivated by sexual desire. Anton is treated like a commodity that only has value when used to negotiate the more complex bonds between female characters.

“Aimee feels like she’s got whiplash. Where is this coming from? How is she the one on the defensive all of a sudden? ‘You’re not being fair.’”

When Aimee confronts Scott about the private investigator, he deflects by attacking her for concealing their daughter’s psychological report. The simile of whiplash effectively communicates Aimee’s disorientation as Scott shifts the blame, a tactic that undermines their relationship’s foundation of trust. This exchange illustrates the breakdown of their marriage and foreshadows Scott’s hypocrisy. He deflects Aimee when she challenges him on a relatively minor secret even though everything he has ever told her about his past is a lie.

“He may have been the professional writer, but now it’s you who gets to write the story. However you behave, whatever you say—to your boys, to the world, to yourself, and yes, even to that awful woman—will become the truth. Take that responsibility very seriously.”

Gwen’s mother, Barb, offers this advice, articulating a core philosophy of the novel: truth is not discovered, but constructed. Barb’s words directly link the power of narrative control to victory, positioning storytelling as a weapon for shaping reality. This speech foreshadows Gwen’s eventual authorship of the book framing the novel. However, the advice also makes truth secondary to appearances, highlighting the value of maintaining appropriate facades no matter what the cost.

“But most adults didn’t have enemies, did they? And why not? There was something so clarifying about it.”

In this moment of interiority, Lisa reframes her vendetta against Gwen as a source of energy and purpose. The rhetorical questions reveal a character who thrives on conflict, finding it more authentic and ‘clarifying’ than the superficial friendship expected within suburban communities (especially between women). Lisa is motivated to go to great lengths because of her suppressed animosity.

“A part of her worries this might be their last one for a while. She is more than a little afraid that what he is going to tell her will change the way she sees him. And she’s not ready to say goodbye to the version of Scott she’s been in love with for so long.”

As Aimee prepares for a family dinner just before Scott’s disappearance, her internal monologue reveals a conscious effort to preserve her idealized image of her husband and marriage. This passage reflects the genuine love between Scott and Aimee, despite the presence of secrets and lies within their marriage. Aimee willfully clings to ignorance because she wants to believe that Scott is a good man but she also genuinely loves her spouse.

“This feels like chess, and she was never very good at chess. […] She wasn’t one for strategy, and what is her strategy here? To tell the truth? To play dumb? To outright lie? Is there another choice?”

Facing questions from a detective, Gwen’s internal monologue employs a chess metaphor to frame her precarious situation, highlighting the calculated nature of her deception. Her admission that she is “not one for strategy” is belied by the strategic options she immediately considers. The quotation deepens Gwen’s characterization and builds empathy with her, which sets the stage for heightened drama when she is eventually revealed as the antagonist.

“‘You’re going to open Pandora’s box with this,’ he says. ‘Once the truth is out, you won’t be able to unknow it.’”

The private investigator, Jon Block, speaks this quotation to Aimee, cautioning her to stop trying to uncover her husband’s secrets. The classical allusion to “Pandora’s box” elevates Scott’s secrets from a simple marital problem to a source of unstoppable chaos. While it might seem self-evident that the truth is preferable to deception, Block’s warning implies ignorance can be bliss. He likewise predicts that Aimee will lose control of events if she continues to dig for the truth.

“‘He was worried that Noa had been going over there.’ Gwen paused and looked away for a moment, then in a lowered voice she said: ‘That she might be in danger.’”

During a tense confrontation, Gwen reveals the truth behind Anton’s last words to Aimee. The dialogue’s pacing—marked by Gwen’s pause and lowered voice—builds suspense before delivering the climactic revelation. This disclosure dramatically raises the narrative stakes, confirming that the adults’ secrets and betrayals have created a tangible threat that extends to their children, fully shattering the illusion of suburban safety.

“But what did it all add up to? If Gwen could keep a secret like this, Aimee realizes that she doesn’t know this woman at all.”

Prior to this realization, Aimee lists intimate, mundane details she knows about Gwen. This catalog of domestic knowledge is rendered meaningless by Gwen’s significant omission, highlighting how superficial details can mask a deeper reality. The rhetorical question that follows marks a turning point in Aimee’s perception, illustrating the theme of the fragility and betrayal of female friendship by showing how a single deception can invalidate a history of perceived intimacy.

“Scott Crowder—who everyone thought was an upstanding family man, biotech entrepreneur, soccer coach, and all-around great guy—was a fraud. A criminal. A killer. And she alone had the power to expose him.”

In this flashback, Lisa’s internal monologue reveals her euphoric sense of power upon confirming Scott’s hidden identity. The asyndetic list contrasting his respectable suburban roles with the criminal reality—“a fraud, a criminal, a killer”—exposes Scott’s core hypocrisy. This passage characterizes Lisa as someone who relishes the chaos she can unleash, framing her quest for “justice” as a narcissistic exercise in control.

“It never ceases to amaze me. People can be married and sleep together in the same bed for decades and have no idea who the other person is.”

As Aimee begins to suspect her husband’s hidden life, the private investigator’s words return to her as an intrusive thought. This quote functions as a concise thesis for the novel’s exploration of domestic deception, directly addressing the prevalence of secrets and lies. While Aimee and Scott have shared significant intimacy, she must face the reality that she does not actually know him.

“That Gwen is gone, and never coming back. Problem is, she’s not sure what the new Gwen is going to look like.”

Following a confrontation with her mother, Gwen experiences an internal realization about her identity. The narrative voice declares the death of her former self—the one who believed in the fantasy of a flawless suburban life where a perfect house could fix a broken marriage. This passage marks a pivotal moment of character transformation, foreshadowing the more ruthless and independent person she will become.

“‘Is that how grown-ups are? They listen to the voice?’

Aimee smiles. ‘Sometimes. Some grown-ups are better at it than other grown-ups.’”

This dialogue occurs while Aimee explains impulse control to her daughter, Noa. The exchange serves as a moment of irony, as Noa’s innocent question cuts to the core of the moral failings of every adult character. Aimee’s understated response is a commentary on the prevalent affairs, extortion, and lies conceding that tragedy stems from a collective inability to control destructive impulses.

“Only, all the best parts, the ones that showcased Anton’s understanding of the human heart, the lyrical interior monologues that led one reviewer to say she couldn’t believe how thoroughly Anton Khoury understood the female psyche—he didn’t write them.”

In this confession to Aimee, Gwen reveals that Anton’s literary success was built on plagiarism, a secret that completely undermines his public identity. This revelation introduces an irony, as the man lauded for his insight into the “female psyche” actually stole his words from his mother’s journal. The disclosure reinforces the notion of Anton as weak and easy to manipulate; he wants the easy path to success and acclaim.

“Kill him? Now why would I want to kill my own son?”

Delivered by the woman Aimee knows as “Cathy,” this rhetorical question serves as a dramatic plot twist, revealing the character’s true identity as Jen Finch, (Scott’s mother). The line shatters the narrative Aimee has been piecing together, recasting the supposed grieving victim as a manipulative protector of her fugitive son. This revelation deepens the novel’s depiction of a world where no one is truly who they seem. It also highlights moral ambiguity and the complexity of an individual’s motivations: Jen/Cathy remains committed to protecting her adult son.

“I am going to go home to my kids. And yes, I am going to call the police. I am going to tell them every single thing that you told me. The rest is up to you, Scott.”

Aimee delivers this ultimatum to Scott after learning the full truth about his past, marking the climax of her character arc. Her declarative statements signal a transformation from a passive wife deceived by lies to an active agent of justice. This decision represents a definitive rejection of lies and deceit as she chooses to dismantle her own family’s false perfection rather than perpetuate a criminal cover-up.

“‘I can’t let you tell Aimee.’ She steps closer. ‘I told Anton the same thing, and he didn’t listen, either.’”

In this confrontation, Lisa delivers a chilling, indirect confession to Anton’s murder, revealing her motive was to prevent him from exposing the extortion plot. The statement showcases Lisa’s primary motivation: retaining a strong bond with Aimee, revealing also that she is willing to do anything to achieve this goal. Lisa’s confession is foreboding as she would only disclose this information to Gwen if she intended to kill the latter (ensuring Gwen could never take it to the police).