59 pages • 1 hour read
Allison LarkinThe People We Keep
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “November 1994 Little River, NY”
Content Warning: This section references sexual violence, a relationship between a minor and an adult, child abandonment and abuse, drug use, and anti-gay prejudice.
16-year-old April Sawicki steals her neighbor’s car to drive to her first open-mic night; she has no car of her own or anyone to drive her. April lives alone in a motorhome with no motor because her father abandoned her in favor of his girlfriend, Irene, and her son. April’s mother abandoned her when she was younger, and now April operates as an independent adult.
At the open-mic night, April signs up to sing two original songs. As she waits for her turn, she wishes that her father were there to support her. She mingles with other artists and witnesses acts of differing talent. The success of other artists feeds her insecurity, but once she performs, her world changes. April’s original songs are very personal, and her authenticity shines through. One is about the first time she had sex with her boyfriend, Matty, while the other is about her father’s neglect.
After her set, she receives compliments and assurances that her performance was the best of the night. April leaves with a new sense of purpose and accomplishment. Back at the motorhome, April realizes just how formative this night will be for her and commits it to memory: “[F]or the first time it doesn’t feel like this will be the rest of my life” (13). Despite feeling stuck in her small town, she now has the confidence to picture a brighter future somewhere else.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary
After failing a math test, April leaves school for Margo’s Diner. Margo, the owner, is April’s father’s ex-girlfriend and the primary maternal figure in April’s life. Margo is committed to April and her well-being and supports her in any way possible. After she and April’s father split, she told April, “I’m not breaking up with you […] You and me, we’re still good” (19). It has been years since the split happened and Margo now employs April, drives her home, and offers essential life advice.
The two work the dinner shift, and then Margo drives April home. Margo laments that April is yet again alone in the motorhome, as it has been months since her father was there. Margo is limited in what she can do for April but before she departs, she assures April that she will try to give her more shifts. She also reveals that she has secured a gig for April at the local bar. April is ecstatic and sets to work writing more songs for her Little River debut.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary
The next day, April wakes up late. She is writing songs when she is surprised by her father’s sudden arrival. He lost his job and has been spending the hours he would be working at the motorhome to hide the truth from Irene. Now that April has quit school, the two have run into each other. Her father laments that he won’t be able to buy Irene’s boy a good Christmas gift now that he’s been laid off. April insists that her father leave, but he claims ownership of the motorhome and goes to take a nap in the bedroom. He won the motorhome in a bet, and he and April have lived in it for as long as he has refused to finish the house he started building on their plot of land. It is just an empty foundation that he will never finish now that he lives with Irene.
While her father sleeps, April takes his truck, jacket, and wallet to the store to buy groceries. On her way back, she stops at Matty’s house. Matty is handsome, popular, and very committed to his relationship with April. The two plan to marry, and Matty has their future all planned out. April is not as excited about these plans or about the sex they have: While Matty always enjoys it, April likes the lead up more than the actual act. Driving back to the motorhome, April finds a ring in her father’s jacket and realizes that he would rather marry Irene than provide for his own daughter. When April arrives, she finds her father outside the motorhome. April’s shopping trip delayed his return to Irene, and in his anger, he smashes her guitar to pieces. In return, she secretly steals the ring she found.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary
A few days later, April is in the motorhome when she is surprised by a visit from Irene. Thinking that she has come for the ring, April is further surprised that Irene wants to talk. Irene tries to connect with April so that April will join her new family with April’s father and her son. April, however, despises Irene and cannot forgive her for taking her father away from her. April learns that her father has just bought Irene a car and wonders how “[i]t doesn’t occur to [Irene] that [April] can’t get [her] dad to buy [her] groceries voluntarily” (42).
April rebuffs Irene’s attempts to connect and is surprised by Irene’s reveal that she is pregnant with April’s half-sibling. It becomes apparent that April’s father is truly moving on from his life with April. The conversation ends when April tells Irene her father is only interested in her because she resembles April’s mother. Irene leaves defeated.
April realizes that she recognizes the ring she stole as her mother’s, and the story of how her parents met comes rushing back to April. Her father was a musician and his music caught her mother’s attention. Her father had the ring engraved with lyrics from the song responsible for their meeting. April reads the inscription, “When Autumn leaves” (45), and reflects that the lyrics foreshadowed the trauma her parents would inflict upon her by leaving both each other and her.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary
The topic of April and Matty’s future arises; April suggests that the two flee Little River while Matty discusses going to work and hunting deer in his free time while April tends house and raises their children. April, already wary of how they fit together, is further alarmed by Matty’s assertion that she will have to give up performing in bars because “[t]hat’s not what married girls do” (47). Despite her feelings for Matty, April leaves for home more uncertain than before.
April’s father is waiting for her when she returns home. He is angry about April’s treatment of Irene. The two go back and forth, and when April insists that they talk more in depth on the subject, her father reveals that Irene’s son has a recital that he wants to be there for. His preferential treatment of the boy leads April to say that her mother made the right choice leaving him. He hits her in response.
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary
April decides that she has to run away from home. She packs as much as she can and plans an escape. Taking advantage of the recital that has pulled most of the town to the school, April walks to Irene’s apartment and steals the keys to Irene’s car. While in the apartment, April catches a glimpse of Irene’s son’s room and realizes how much more care is being put into his upbringing than hers. With the car in her possession, April heads to Matty’s before leaving town.
Knowing that no one is home because of the recital, April spends time in Matty’s room and reminisces about the good times they had together. She takes a sweater to remember him by and leaves a note that merely says, “Matty I have to go. I’m sorry. Love Always, April” (55). With this done, she leaves Little River. As she drives away on the interstate, April realizes that she never said goodbye to Margo. She calls from a pay phone, and although she doesn’t say anything when Margo picks up, Margo knows that April has moved on.
Part 1, Chapters 1-6 Analysis
The first six chapters are rich with exposition that not only establishes April as the protagonist but also introduces the motivations that drive her throughout the novel. These chapters depict April’s life in Little River and introduce three characters who have a long-lasting impact on her. Her hesitations surrounding family and love are established, and her journey as the subject of a bildungsroman begins.
April’s poor family situation finds her living alone in a dilapidated home at an early age. She has been abandoned by both parents, and every time she interacts with her father, it ends in an argument or abuse. April has thus been conditioned to see family as a detriment, not a support system, in part because she assumes family must be related by blood. She believes her only family to be her father, despite Margo being the only person who provides and cares for her like a parent. The juxtaposition of April’s father and Margo as parental figures is clear when April argues with her father. In his anger, he grabs April and “[h]is fingers dig into [her] armpit, even through Margo’s old down jacket” (48). It may only be cloth, but Margo’s jacket provides April with protection from her father and his ire. This scene occurs in Chapter 5 and is pivotal, as it represents the true ends of April’s tolerance for Little River. Margo’s love cannot sustain her anymore, and after being hit by her father, April breaks ties and leaves town. These early interactions with her father lay the groundwork for her wariness toward seeking security and stability with others, establishing the theme of Chosen (Rather Than Found) Family.
Another important aspect of this first section is April’s relationship with Matty. Despite having strong feelings for Matty, April feels constricted by Matty’s desire to stay in Little River and lead a married life guided by gender norms. Again, an episode from Chapter 5 proves pivotal in April’s decision to hit the road, as Matty’s dreams of their future together prove to disappointing to ignore. While April laments the loss of her guitar, Matty attempts to comfort her by saying, “It’s not like it matters. You’ll get a new guitar. You can play at Gary’s until we get married” (47). He entirely overlooks the importance of Expression Through Music in April’s life, treating the loss of her guitar as merely a nuisance rather than a blow to her identity. He goes as far as to say, “Not like I want my wife playing in a bar, right?” and tells April, “[Y]ou can stay with the kids and I’ll bring home the venison” (47). Matty hopes for a future in which he can hang out with his friends and go hunting while April gives up her passions to support him. April refuses to accept these gendered roles, and the conversation further pushes her away from the town and relationships she grew up with. The Nature of Romantic Relationships is an important theme going forward, and April’s relationship with Matty sets the tone.
These developments help establish the novel as a bildungsroman. April encounters conflicts that push her to seek answers in the wider world. Her adolescence is approaching its end, and she recognizes the impending need to function as an adult. Her passion for music and desire to escape a very unhealthy home push her to begin a transformative journey. The structure of these early chapters reflects her state of mind and feelings of constriction. Except for the four-page Chapter 5, the first six chapters are among the longest in the novel. These chapters, which depict April’s unhappiness and anxiety, maintain a slow narrative pace, engulfing readers in her hopes and fears. As the novel progresses and April travels, finding new friends and happiness along with anxiety and devastation, the chapters shorten, speeding up the novel and suggesting her growth into a new person. The opening of The People We Keep proves essential to understanding April’s character and development.
