Nine Perfect Strangers

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-16

Chapters 17-32

Chapters 33-48

Chapters 49-64

Chapters 65-79

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Chapters 33-48Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 33-36 Summary

Frances feels the effects of the drugs. She imagines books, her ex-husbands, and her dead friend Gillian. She views recent events as though they were a novel in which she’s the protagonist. Gradually, she begins to realize that the loss of Ari rather than Paul Drabble is what upsets her most about being scammed. For the first time in her life, she’d imagined herself as a mother. Now, she feels as though she must grieve the loss of a child. Gillian encourages her to enjoy the blissful feeling of the drugs on her body.

Yao sits beside Frances and coaches her through the experience. She rambles with the mask over her eyes, admitting that she hasn’t “had sex in so long” (165). Yao offers mild encouragement and sympathy. He looks around the room and sees that the other patients are coping well even though his instincts are telling him to run.

Tony imagines his sporting days, running across a field with Banjo by his side. He kicks an oddly shaped football, which represents “his regrets and his shame” (167). The ball passes through the goal, the crowd cheers, and he feels euphoric.

Carmel imagines herself sitting in a shop, judging the various bodies being sold. Masha guides her selection of a new body. Her daughters encourage her to return to her own body. Masha approves.

Chapters 37-40 Summary

Masha is delighted with the way the session is unfolding. Napoleon worries that he’s having an unpleasant experience with the drugs, as he did in his youth. Beside him, Heather says that she’ll not rest until Masha is in prison. Zoe is enjoying the experience, and her enthusiasm slowly spreads to her father. He imagines Zach sitting in front of them. Heather and Zoe see him too.

As the effects of the drugs wear off, Frances sits up. She thanks Delilah for the experience and asks how much she owes. Delilah says that Frances isn’t finished yet. In the corner, she sees Ben and Jessica “kissing like young lovers” (173). On the other side of the room, she can see Zach. Frances wants to say hello to him, but Delilah encourages her not to do so.

Heather focuses on her breathing. She knows that Zach isn’t in the room but—like her husband and daughter—she can see him sitting on the floor. Napoleon bursts into tears, worried that Zach has gone. Heather tries to watch her husband closely but feels the drugs taking over. Memories of Zach and his death flash before her. She remembers finding something unexpected in one of Zach’s drawers after his death, but then she’s back in the spa, with Napoleon crying beside her. Masha approaches and tries to talk about Zach. Napoleon weeps, blaming himself for Zach’s death. Zoe also blames herself. As Masha encourages them, Heather erupts with anger at Masha. As she stands up, Masha happily tells Heather to unleash her rage. Heather turns to her family and prepares to tell them something.

Chapters 41-44 Summary

Zoe listens as her mother talks about Zach’s death by suicide. Heather explains that the side effects of Zach’s asthma medicine included “depression and suicidal thoughts” (177). Heather blames herself for Zach’s death because she approved his use of the medicine. Napoleon assures Heather than their son’s death wasn’t her fault. The imaginary Zach hugs Zoe and assures his sister that she’s also not to blame.

Napoleon listens to his wife and daughter share their “dreadful, heavy secrets” (179), hoping that he can help unburden their consciences.

Masha watches Ben and Jessica speaking honestly and directly with each other. Ben admits that he misses their old life as well as Jessica’s face before the cosmetic procedures. Jessica responds that she feels more beautiful now. She admits that she’s worried that Ben loves his car more than his wife. As Ben ponders giving all the money away, Jessica admits that she’s pregnant. Ben is delighted. Masha is shocked. Then, Ben is angry that Masha “gave [his] pregnant wife drugs” (181). Jessica agrees with Ben and thinks Masha should “go to jail” (181).

Heather wakes up in the meditation studio after the effects of the drug have worn off. Her mind feels clear, but she plans to leave the spa immediately with her family. She wants to be with Napoleon and Zoe on the anniversary of Zach’s death and share memories about him.

Chapters 45-48 Summary

Frances removes her headphones and mask. She reflects on the pleasant experience as she notices Lars snoring on the camp bed nearby. As she watches the other guests wake up, Napoleon offers her water. He points out that Masha, Yao, and Delilah are gone. The doors are locked.

Hours later, Carmel is sure that being locked in the meditation room is “part of the process” (185) as the other guests begin to worry. They’ve been in the room for nearly 24 hours and can find no way to leave the room other than through the heavy, locked door. The guests discuss and bicker about their situation. Heather faces the camera in the corner of the room and demands to be released, before collapsing in tears in Napoleon’s arms. Carmel remembers her home and is suddenly homesick. She begins to feel claustrophobic.

The guests search for a potential lockpick. Frances watches as her bracelet is taken apart. As the others try to pick the lock, she talks to Zoe. As Zoe talks about her complicated feelings toward her brother, Frances tries to be supportive. Zoe explains that she feels as though the anger she felt toward her brother has been resolved somehow. She tells Frances that she read and loved her book. Frances thanks Zoe.

Zoe lies to Frances about loving the book. She still can’t believe that she “got high with her parents” (191). Zoe watches her mother from across the room, thinking about the previous day’s revelations. She empathizes with the burden of guilt her mother has carried for so long. She also empathizes with the other guests, all of whom have their burdens and their problems. Frances thanks Zoe again for liking the book. Zoe still hears her brother’s voice in her head and knows that he isn’t “going anywhere.”

Chapters 33-48 Analysis

Once locked in the meditation room, the characters begin to feel the effects of the hallucinogenic drugs administered to them by the spa staff. Unable to leave, they succumb to the effects of the drugs and their hallucinations provide insights into their psyches. Napoleon, Heather, and Zoe all see Zach sitting in front of them. For a family that has been divided by Zach’s absence, they’re brought together by his unexpected presence. All three characters know that he isn’t real but recognize in their shared desire that he was. They’re united in empathy, sharing their individual feelings of guilt with one another. The emotions that they repressed for so long are unleashed by the vision; even though they know that Zach isn’t real, their experience brings them together as a family.

Similarly, Frances sees Ari rather than Paul. As a literary person, she quickly understands the significance of the hallucination and deduces that the internet scam that was used against her taught her a valuable lesson. She doesn’t care about Paul or the money she lost. Rather, she feels as though she’s grieving the loss of Ari. Though she may not want a child of her own, she enjoyed the brief experience of caring deeply for a young child. Her experience with Ari and her understanding of the sense of loss she felt lay the foundation for the happiness she’ll later find. She’ll get the same enjoyment from Tony’s grandchildren as she did from Ari, allowing her to indulge that same yearning without the shame and pain she experienced previously.

Both revelations point toward an important part of Masha’s treatment program. The Marconi family, Frances, and others do gain some insight and understanding from the hallucinations and the meditation. They benefit in a tangible way, either coming together to resolve their guilt or gaining a better understanding of the events of their past. Despite these tangible successes, however, Heather provides the stinging criticism that defines Masha’s failure: The experiment isn’t scientifically sound. Masha succeeds through luck and happenstance more than scientific rigor. Though Masha defends herself by saying that results in experiments have shown that the treatment succeeds, Heather points out that the meditation chamber isn’t a laboratory and the spa staff aren’t scientists. Likewise, Masha’s lack of background research is clear when she’s shocked by the reality of Zach’s death and other elements of her guests’ histories that she can’t or won’t account for. The guests may become transformed by the experience, but it’s despite rather than because of Masha.