58 pages • 1 hour read
Natalie SueI Hope This Finds You Well
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Power Move”
The next day, the first of May, Jolene arrives at the office to find Rhonda redecorating her desk and Caitlin taking selfies to post on social media. Exploring Rhonda’s inbox, Jolene discovers an email Rhonda sent to herself tracking Armin’s shortcomings as an employee, with entries such as the following: “Spent 17 mins staring at a screensaver. Also 14 mins staring at his own hands” (62). Armin soon arrives, looking tired.
Jolene also follows a series of instant messages between Jolene and Garret, as the two plan to optimize Caitlin’s chances of retaining her job in the event of layoffs. After that, Jolene reads an email from Gregory to Cliff, asking him to prepare “recommendations” within a month. The email contains an org chart detailing proposed changes, including collapsing roles by firing either Armin or Rhonda as well as Caitlin or Jolene. In his response, Cliff stresses the importance of getting to know the employees personally as he prepares his recommendations.
Reading Gregory’s emails, Jolene is disgusted to see another sexually suggestive email, signed only by “Cutie Bear.” Moments later, Gregory appears and wishes Jolene well as she begins the anti-harassment course; he also informs Rhonda that the company will be unable to replace her company credit card after she lost it for the third time in less than a year. Addressing Armin, Gregory jokes, “It can’t be easy being in estrogen alley all day” (70).
Determined to earn the promotion, Jolene jots down a four-part plan that involves outperforming Caitlin, winning over Gregory through Rhonda, dissuading Armin from saying anything bad about her, and befriending Cliff. She begins by offering to join the Morale Boosters, a party-planning committee led by Rhonda. She also emails Cliff to accept his carpooling offer.
Chapter 11 Summary: “But Who Will Watch Me Watch the Movie?”
Jolene arrives at Cliff’s office for her first anti-harassment lesson. Determined to make a good impression, she chats with him about the Bob’s Burgers and Star Wars decorations in his office while accepting the donut holes he offers. At times, Jolene enjoys their banter, though she remains suspicious of Cliff’s motivations.
Together, Cliff and Jolene watch a video demonstrating various forms of harassment in the workplace. During a scene in which two employees make fun of a third, Jolene has a flashback to Ellie running through the woods just before she died. Panicking, she pauses the video. Cliff offers her a drink as well as a pamphlet about anxiety before continuing the video. When Cliff asks her to trust him, Jolene resolves to “stay in control” of her emotions (79).
Chapter 12 Summary: “Dos and Donuts”
That night, Jolene drinks to escape the painful memories of Ellie. Arriving at work the next morning, Jolene learns from a private message between Caitlin and Rhonda that Rhonda has been giving Caitlin a one-day head start in processing important data each month.
Exploring Rhonda’s communications data, Jolene realizes that Rhonda has a large backlog of semi-technical requests from Gregory that Rhonda seems unable or unwilling to address effectively. She also sees that the last charge on the company credit card Rhonda lost was a liquor purchase. Viewing Rhonda’s phone records, Jolene notes that she calls a certain number four times each day.
Jolene is just beginning to peruse Caitlin’s inbox when Cliff appears and offers mini donuts to everyone as a signal of goodwill; he also announces that he plans to meet with each of them individually over the next week. Following his announcement, there is an awkward silence, and Jolene is embarrassed when Cliff greets her personally and confirms their planned carpool. As soon as he leaves, Jolene’s co-workers get up and eat the donuts, not leaving any for her.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Music Taste Is Raunch Rock”
Cliff and Jolene’s car ride home begins somewhat awkwardly, but they become more comfortable while laughing at a honk from Rhonda. Cliff apologizes for greeting Jolene in front of her colleagues without thinking about how it might make her feel, and Jolene apologizes for treating him coldly. They also discuss ground rules for their friendship, agreeing to keep their personal and professional lives separate. When Cliff lets Jolene turn on some music from his phone, she plays a song at random, which turns out to have sexually suggestive lyrics. Cliff laughs, thinking she is testing him.
Jolene arrives home to find Miley waiting for her. She asks about Cliff, and Jolene gives an evasive answer. When Miley’s mother tells Miley to stop bothering Jolene, Jolene feels sorry for her.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Armin & Rhonda EFFs”
Jolene carpools to the office with Cliff early the next morning. Upon arriving, Jolene prepares coffee for the Coffee Club, which she recently joined in an effort to improve her social standing. Checking her co-workers’ inboxes, Jolene learns that Rhonda recently joined a dating website called Silver Timings. From Rhonda’s profile, Jolene realizes that Rhonda is much lonelier than she lets on in the office, where she constantly brags about spending time with her son, Carl.
Armin, Rhonda, and Caitlin soon arrive. When Rhonda gives some forms she recently completed to Armin, he complains about her ongoing preference to complete her work on paper instead of digitally. When Armin suggests that Rhonda should retire if she can’t keep up with evolving technologies, Caitlin comes to Rhonda’s defense. Remembering her goal of winning Rhonda and Armin over, Jolene offers to type up the reports and teach Rhonda how to complete them digitally in the future. Surprised, Rhonda accepts her offer.
When Rhonda makes a call to the number she frequently dials, Jolene becomes curious and calls the number herself. A recorded message indicates that it is Carl’s number, and his voice message mailbox is full.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Minor Distractions”
After lunch, an employee on maternity leave arrives to show off her baby. Jolene feigns interest in the baby but quickly returns to her desk, leading Caitlin to make a condescending remark about her. Furious, Jolene logs into Caitlin’s account and adds a few small errors to a report she is working on.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Milkshake Brings Nothing to Nobody”
As she carpools with Cliff after work, Jolene feels pressure to win him over before Caitlin tries to turn him against her. When Cliff learns that Jolene has never been to Angels, a local ice cream shop, he invites her to stop for milkshakes; she agrees. As they chat, Jolene learns that Cliff grew up in the area and was raised by his grandmother. They jokingly discuss which of their co-workers they would like to have killed, and Jolene feels warm and happy. Cliff compliments her, saying, “I almost never know what you’re going to say—a surprisingly rare trait” (110).
Chapter 17 Summary: “Missedcakes”
The next morning, as she reads emails from various departments, Jolene begins to identify ways that certain inter-departmental workflows could be improved. She also spends a few minutes teaching Rhonda to digitalize reports, to Caitlin’s annoyance. Later, as she peruses Rhonda’s email history, Jolene realizes that Rhonda has not heard from Carl for a long time, though she constantly sends him messages.
Rhonda and Armin argue after he returns late from some kind of appointment.Caitlin meets with Cliff; afterward, she sends a message to Armin, asking him to support her efforts to make Jolene look bad. Armin sends an email to schedule a meeting with Cliff and mentions that he wants to discuss a personal matter. Cliff, meanwhile, sends an email to Jolene, cancelling their carpool for the day. She panics, assuming that Caitlin turned him against her.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Ungodly Hours”
Jolene wakes up on Saturday morning to a surprise visit from her parents. Jolene’s mother serves her homemade Persian soup, then proceeds to examine her messy apartment disapprovingly. Jolene’s father apologizes for visiting without warning, then sits on the couch to watch golf.
As Jolene’s parents leave, Miley appears and gives a toy zebra she crocheted to Jolene as a birthday gift. Jolene feels sorry for Miley, who is lonely, but chooses not to invite her in.
Chapters 10-18 Analysis
In these chapters, the central conflicts of the plot continue to develop through rising action. As Jolene formulates and begins to enact plans to increase her job security, she finds her worst suspicions confirmed while reading others’ private messages: “I knew these people were fake and cruel, but I didn’t realize they’re all playing a game. If I hadn’t read their emails and DMs, I never would’ve understood the rules. Now I see where I truly sit on the chessboard” (71). In using her newfound power to add mistakes to Caitlin’s work, Jolene passes a point of no return, having damaged someone else’s career to support her own. In so doing, she heightens conflicts both internal and external.
Jolene’s tendency to view others as obstacles in the way of her success fits within Sue’s broader discussion of Alienation and Dehumanization in the Modern Workplace. Along with Jolene’s competitiveness, Rhonda and Armin’s feud and Caitlin’s animosity toward Jolene together illustrate the way that the work environment at Supershops tends to pit people against one another in the rat race for power and prestige. Not even Cliff is immune from this effect, as his experience giving away mini donuts demonstrates; the others are too suspicious of him to accept the donuts while he is present but pounce on them the moment he leaves, showing that their perception of him is tainted by his role as an HR analyst. Meanwhile, Gregory’s misogynistic comments highlight the way that women, in particular, have historically been demeaned and devalued in the workplace. Whether due to resentment, prejudice, or the sheer tedium of work, virtually every major character demonstrates negative outcomes due to the oppressive work environment.
Closely related to this theme is that of Judgment Versus Empathy, which Sue develops in this section. In his meetings with Jolene, Cliff demonstrates an admirable willingness to empathize with her concerns. She, however, judges herself and others for showing emotions, which she views as weaknesses to be controlled or repressed, rather than addressed. When one of the training videos inadvertently triggers Jolene’s trauma, she immediately withdraws rather than opening up to Cliff. This is a recurring pattern for her, as she feels momentary closeness or willingness to open up to others, such as Miley, but she repeatedly repressed those thoughts with other concerns, often based on harsh judgments about herself or others. The more she learns about her coworkers’ inward struggles and sorrows, however, the more Jolene finds her determination to remain distant and impassive tested, as when she begins to feel sorry for Rhonda after learning that she is far lonelier than she pretends to be. The implication is that empathy is an instinctive response, whereas the harsher, judgmental reactions that Jolene uses to counteract her feelings are learned, socially inflected, and ultimately defeating behaviors.
These chapters continue to demonstrate Sue’s attention to detail regarding office dynamics and norms. For instance, Jolene’s habit of carpooling with Cliff offers a glimpse into a common commuting experience; it also paves the way for their blossoming friendship when Jolene joins Cliff and his family for a spontaneous game of bowling. Similarly, Jolene’s participation in an in-office coffee club as well as Rhonda’s party planning committee, known as the Morale Boosters, highlights the extent to which she is willing to engage in office politics to boost her career. In this respect, the insular world of Supershops serves as a microcosm of society, with its social demands upon the individual.
