61 pages • 2 hours read
Malorie BlackmanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Jasmine Hadley and her servant of 14 years, Meggie McGregor, watch their two children, Callum and Sephy, play together. As Mrs. Hadley steps away to speak to her husband, Meggie daydreams about Callum and Sephy getting married. The Hadleys return outside. Mr. Hadley questions Meggie about what she was doing the previous evening. After Meggie shares that she spent the night at home alone, Mr. Hadley strikes his wife. Mrs. Hadley refuses Meggie’s help and reprimands her for not lying to Mr. Hadley as her alibi for the previous evening. Mrs. Hadley terminates Meggie. Later that evening, Meggie decides to go and speak to Mrs. Hadley in person. She returns two hours later, but nothing has changed. Blackman informs the reader that this is the night Meggie’s daughter Lynette disappears.
The Prologue, set three years before the main story, illustrates Callum and Sephy’s close childhood relationship, which is encouraged by their parents. Callum’s mother watches young Callum and Sephy playing and “forced herself to believe that things would be better for the children” (2). The theme of hope for a better future continues throughout the novel as Callum and Sephy develop a deeper understanding of the society they live in and the inequalities that restrict them.
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