False Witness

“Trevor suddenly appeared behind her like a serial killer. He threw his arms around her, saying ‘I love you.’”

This seemingly throw-away line is a valuable piece of literary foreshadowing. This child will become a serial rapist and, subsequently, a killer. Similarly, the way he is described—as a “serial killer”—contrasts strikingly with what he goes on to tell Callie, foreshadowing the way adult Andrew/Trevor will pose as a lover of women while raping and killing them.

“‘Apparently, a guilty admission on this particular reduced charge could lead to further exposure.’

[…]

Leigh asked, ‘How much exposure?’

‘Two, possibly three.’

Women, she thought. Two or three more women who had been raped.”

This exchange between Leigh and her boss is an example of a more subtle, casual misogyny. The boss referring to rape survivors as “exposure” is dismissive and dehumanizing, which Leigh implicitly notes when she corrects him in her own mind with “women.”

“Leigh wasn’t one of those believers in bad blood or apples not falling far from the tree. […] People could transcend their circumstances. It was possible to break the cycle. Had Andrew Tenant broken the cycle?”

Leigh’s thought raises an uncomfortable question about Andrew/Trevor—is his misogyny a product of nurture or nature, or both? Whatever the cause, it will soon become apparent that Andrew/Trevor has not broken the cycle of abuse started by his father. On the contrary, he escalates it.

“Unless [the video] showed Callie screaming No the entire time, the cops, the lawyers, the judges, would all say that she had wanted it because, no matter what happened to women, men always, always covered each other’s asses.”

Leigh articulates one of the book’s central themes—the dangers of complicit misogyny. Even if men are not actively harming a woman (Buddy’s friends, Reggie), they are still guilty of misogyny by being complicit in harm against women.

“She was finally doing to a man the same fucking thing that men had been doing to Harleigh and Callie for their entire fucking lives.”

Leigh thinks this as she is smothering Buddy to death. Her rage is a direct reaction to the misogyny and abuse she’s experienced in her young life. Killing Buddy provides her with a kind of catharsis, though it proves to be short-lived.

“So, he’s like Buddy after all.”

Callie says this in response to learning that Andrew/Trevor is a rapist. Her reaction is a counterpoint to Leigh’s implicit hope that Andrew/Trevor has “broken the cycle” of his father’s violence (46). While Leigh wants to believe that people are not defined by their genetics, Callie is much more skeptical.

“An avid reader, Andrew enjoys the fantasy novels of Ursula K. Le Guin and the feminist essays of Mary Wollstonecraft.”

This line is from Andrew/Trevor’s bio on his company website. Here, the book reveals just how easy it is for misogyny to hide under the flags of false feminism or allyship. It’s possible for people to twist social justice causes like MeToo and leverage them for their own gain.

“Assuming Andrew is guilty of the assaults, how are you going to feel if you get him off scot-free and he does it again? Or he does something even worse the next time?”

Cole Bradley says these words to Leigh, foreshadowing the book’s events—Andrew/Trevor will in fact escalate from raping to killing (Ruby).

“If Callie had a needle fixation, Leigh had a chaos fixation. Her big sister longed for the calm normalcy of life with Walter and Maddy, but every time she reached a certain level of tranquility, she found a way to blow it up. Over the years, Callie had watched the pattern play out dozens of times.”

Here, Callie draws a parallel between her substance use disorder and Leigh’s self-destructive behavior. The parallel speaks to the different ways trauma can manifest and reiterates the thematic argument that Leigh and Callie are bonded by shared trauma just as much as by filial connection.

“Andrew knew everything because he had seen everything.”

Callie realizes this when she finds the remnants of video recording gear in the Waleskis’ old house. The words “seen everything” introduce the videotapes, a symbol of The Futility of Trying to Escape the Past. The words “seen everything” also introduce a voyeuristic element, highlighting the cat-and-mouse situation that the sisters find themselves in opposite Andrew/Trevor.

“Do you know what happens to women who laugh at me?”

Andrew/Trevor says these menacing words to Leigh. His rhetorical question is reminiscent of a well-known quote attributed to author Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” Atwood explores misogyny in her own works (The Handmaid’s Tale, for instance), so this may be a subtle nod to her.

“The second anything bad happens to me, every. Man, woman, and child with access to the internet will be able to watch your sister getting shredded.”

Andrew/Trevor says this to Leigh, reiterating the power that the videotapes have over Leigh and Callie. These words also speak to an awareness of Callie’s shame. Shame is not uncommon around a trauma like rape and can hinder people from coming forward and/or healing.

“She [Leigh] was only fucked up because Callie had made her do terrible things.”

In this passage, Callie is reflecting on the guilt she feels for calling Leigh on the night Buddy died and thus implicating her in Buddy’s murder. Callie blames herself for Leigh’s self-sabotaging behavior, much as Leigh blames herself for putting Callie in Buddy’s way. This relates to the thematic treatment of The Bonds Forged Through Shared Trauma, which are infused with guilt.

“Maddy’s a gorgeous little girl. […] Such a tiny little thing. […] It’s funny, Callie, how Harleigh’s daughter looks so much like you. Like a little dolly.”

Andrew/Trevor says these words to Callie. The repetition of language previously used by Buddy to address Callie (“little dolly,” “tiny”) drives home the fact that it’s impossible to outrun the past. Indeed, Andrew/Trevor is tacitly threatening to harm Maddy just as his father harmed Callie, bringing the past into the present in a very real way. Callie is immediately triggered.

“I knew that it was my fault. I pimped out my own sister to a pedophile.”

Just as Callie feels guilty toward Leigh, Leigh feels guilty toward Callie (see quote #14). This shared guilt drives the sisters’ loyalty to one another—another prominent theme in the book.

“You were only thirteen years old. He molested you, and nobody did anything. You said you should’ve protected Callie. Who protected you? […] You were a child!”

In this instance, Walter functions as an external voice of reason—bringing clarity beyond the perspectives of Callie and Leigh, through which the narrative is filtered. Walter is like the chorus in a Greek play, providing an external commentary on the action.

“Andrew was going to pay for threatening Maddy. He was going to pay with Sidney’s life.”

These words come from Callie. They speak to the significance of a secondary character, Maddy. Although Maddy barely appears in the book at all, she’s important because the protagonists care about her. A threat to Maddy therefore motivates the protagonists to act, moving the plot forward while heightening the emotional stakes.

“Peeping Tom turns into rapist. Rapist turns into murderer.”

These words speak to the pervasive and possibly progressive nature of misogyny, a central theme. Does hateful speech lead to hateful actions? Does physical abuse lead to murder? These are the troubling questions the book presents.

“I’ve run across a very dangerous Great Dane. […] He’s hurting women. Raping them, torturing them. And he’s threatening to hurt people I care about. Like my sister. And my—my sister’s daughter. Maddy.”

Callie uses this coded language to describe Andrew/Trevor to Dr. Jerry. This quote reinforces the book’s argument that the “dangerous” animals of the world aren’t actual animals, but men.

“The giant syringe in her pocket […] was meant to put down Andrew so that Maddy would be safe and Leigh could go on with her life.”

These words further the book’s argument that men are the creatures to be feared. Callie is using language that’s usually reserved for animals.

“We’ll meet with the district attorney at noon tomorrow. We’ll make a proffer. It’s sometimes called ‘queen for a day.’ I’ll be able to tell them the truth, but nothing I say can be used against me. Hopefully, I can provide evidence against Andrew that will put him away.”

Leigh says these words to Callie. The term “queen for a day” suggests a feminine power. Although this scenario doesn’t come to fruition, since Callie kills Andrew/Trevor first, the term speaks to a fitting power flip. The women seize power at the book’s end to beat Andrew/Trevor, fighting back against the misogyny they’ve been subjected to.

“Callie thought about Kurt Cobain. He wasn’t waiting for her anymore. He was here, talking to Mama Cass and Jimi Hendrix, laughing with Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin and River Phoenix. […] Callie knew that she belonged.”

These are Callie’s final thoughts as she passes away. The famous people referenced are those who died young and struggled with substance use disorders. She is at peace, knowing she has defeated Andrew/Trevor, protected Maddy, and kept Leigh from going to jail.

“That kitchen floor was shining when I got home from the hospital. And the bleach was so strong that my eyes watered.”

This is the book’s final plot twist—that Linda knew about Buddy’s murder all along. It’s a characteristic of the thriller genre to have plot twists. However, this one comes very late in the story, in the Epilogue, sustaining the narrative tension to the last minute.