53 pages • 1 hour read
Catherine SteadmanSomething in the Water
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A 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 9-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Interview Two”
Back at Holloway Prison, Erin waits for her second interviewee, Alexa Fuller, who is in prison for assisting with her mother’s willing suicide. While she waits, Erin reflects on how she and Mark reorganized their wedding to save money and how Mark is “back to his old self” (65). Alexa says the last 14 years feel like she’s just been waiting. When she gets out in a month, she’s going to try to have a baby because she’s done waiting and “now I’m going to live” (70). Her thoughts resonate strongly with Erin and make her think about how much she wants to build a family with Mark.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Honeymoon”
Erin and Mark get married and go to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. On the way to the airport, Erin thinks about Alexa, Holli, and Eddie, all still in prison. Today, she feels her “freedom with renewed clarity” (74). Mark and Erin fly first class. The difference in how they’re treated amazes Erin. She philosophizes on how money clears a path through life, wondering if any of the people in the private first-class lounge ever associate with people not in their financial circle. She repeatedly tells herself “don’t overthink it” (76), which doesn’t stop her thoughts. Their three flights to Bora Bora go off without a hitch. Exhausted, they arrive at the hotel, and Mark carries Erin into their suite.
Chapter 11 Summary: “A Storm is Coming”
The first few days of their honeymoon are pure bliss, full of sun, the beach, and sex. They book a session at the scuba training pool. Erin is terrified because scuba diving reminds her of how her mother died, but she faces her fear. Underwater with Mark, she feels “perfectly at peace” (86). On the fifth day of their trip, they learn a storm is coming. The hotel staff tell them to stay put and that everything should be fine. While they wait out the storm, Mark gets a text from someone back home. A prospective job fell through, which leaves Mark sour. Erin drags him out to the ocean. She screams into the storm “until I have no breath left” (91). Mark does the same.
Chapters 9-11 Analysis
These chapters introduce Alexa and show her as a foil for Holli. Holli went to prison for committing a dangerous crime and makes no secret of her desire to commit further crimes. Alexa, by contrast, went to prison for trying to help her mother and wishes to truly be free once she’s released. Each woman shows a different end of the spectrum in terms of prisoner attitude and reform. Holli foreshadows her own future crimes by telling Erin to expect greatness from her. These crimes later affect Erin and Mark’s separate agendas regarding the bag. Alexa’s desire to become pregnant foreshadows Erin’s pregnancy and the way her unborn child changes Erin’s decision-making.
In Chapter 10, Erin feels her freedom and compares herself to her interviewees, all still behind bars. This is ironic because Chapter 10 is the last time Erin feels free. She believes Mark is back to his old self when he isn’t. In addition, Mark’s job loss weighs on her. Once they arrive in Bora Bora and find the bag, lies and crimes begin to close in on her. Her own secrets, Mark’s secrets, and Mark’s manipulation build a cage around Erin that trap her more effectively than any prison.
Erin discovering the separate lounge for first-class passengers shows how people’s perceptions of the world can change so quickly. It also foreshadows her learning about the plane people being virtually untraceable. These are Erin’s first lessons in new ways the world works. She takes this understanding and expands on it in later chapters as she divines ways to hide the money, sell the diamonds, and exchange the USB drive.
The coming storm in Chapter 11 symbolizes the coming change to Erin and Mark’s lives. The storm of Mark’s job loss will soon come to a head. The literal storm also leads Mark to take a different route and find the bag, which triggers his and Erin’s shifts toward lives of lies and crime.
