41 pages • 1 hour read
Leigh BardugoNinth House
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A 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 8-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary: “Winter”
When Alex and Pamela arrive at the morgue, Alex pretends to be Tara’s cousin and compels the receptionist to let her in. Alex finds a way to make a dead body reveal the harm done to it. Alex relives the last minutes of Tara’s life and sees the face of Tara’s boyfriend Lance over her. The last thing he says is, “I’m sorry” (140).
On her way out, Alex runs into Detective Turner. He is upset at her tampering with the body, but eventually tells her that Tara and her boyfriend had been dealing drugs to Tripp Helmuth, one of the Bonesmen who had been at the prognostication ritual the night of the murder.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Winter”
After leaving the morgue, Alex drops off Pamela on campus and drives back to Black Elm, Darlington’s home in Westville. As she gets close, she sees lights on in the house and is hopeful that he is back. However, the house is empty, so Alex concludes that Pamela must have come to take care of the mail earlier and left the lights on.
Alex sleeps in Darlington’s bed. She dreams that he is embracing her from behind.
The following morning, she writes a detailed report about the prognostication and her investigation into Tara’s murder before heading back to campus. At a corner deli, she picks up snacks, planning to spend some quiet time at the Hutch. However, while shopping, she encounters a ghost that can touch her. Alex runs out onto the street, but the Grey follows and attempts to suffocate her. Another ghost, the Bridegroom, saves her, and she runs to the Hutch. There, Pamela explains that what attacked her is a gluma, “a spirit raised from the recently dead to pass through the world” and serve as messenger for the Book and Snake society (159). Alex concludes that someone is trying to kill her because of her investigation into Tara’s murder.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Last Fall”
Throughout the semester, Alex and Darlington attend various rituals performed by different societies. In this way, the young woman learns more about each House. Wolf’s Head, for example, specializes in physical transformations. Book and Snake interrogates a corpse. Scroll and Key attempts an unsuccessful portal to Hungary.
On Halloween, Darlington and Alex attend a party at the Manuscript society, which specializes in altering the conscious mind. Alex is dressed as Queen Mab. After walking through various opulent rooms, they encounter the head of the society who wears the guise of “Lan Caihe, one of the eight immortals of Chinese myth, who could move amongst genders at will” (176). Alex and Darlington are invited to take part in the banquet. Upon Caihe’s command, the room changes into a cavern and a magical mirror appears. In it, Darlington sees Alex as a true Queen Mab: “night ebbed and flowed around her in a cape of glittering stars; above the oil-black sheaf of her hair, a constellation glowed—a wheel, a crown,” and himself as a knight “with bowed head, offering his service” (178).
Alex bites Darlington’s ear to bring him back to himself as he is behaving strangely: He is aroused and kneeling in front of her with his hands under her skirt. Darlington feels humiliated at his loss of control and leaves immediately instead of overseeing the party.
Back at his house, Daniel recalls his vision and the desire he had felt and realizes that Alex is not what she seems.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Winter”
After the attack, Pamela gives Alex a special drink to help her fight the aftereffects of the gluma, and Alex sleeps for a while. Dean Sandow is reluctant to believe Alex about the attack. He does not want trouble and questions the validity of her testimony and accusations. Alex realizes that he does not want to get involved in something problematic because Lethe’s funding depends on the other Houses, so he will not help protect her. Alex decides to acknowledge the Bridegroom in hopes he could help her.
A flashback reveals that Darlington disappeared through something like a portal. The dean believes they can bring him back with a special rite performed on the new moon.
Chapters 8-11 Analysis
While coming from two fundamentally different places, Alex and Darlington gradually begin to understand each other better, which leads to mutual attraction. Alex’s behavior in Black Elm reveals her longing for Darlington, but her life experiences and cynicism prevent her from admitting her feelings. Alex is still afraid of Darlington’s power as her superior. Darlington is also attracted to Alex. Furthermore, his attraction goes beyond the physical. While Alex brings an element of the cynical and vulgar into his life, he values her ability above all. He sees himself as a knight serving a powerful Queen, suggesting that he is different from other men in the book who all want to dominate, control, and use women. His vision also foreshadows Alex’s power and her role of “Wheelwalker.”
In a further development of the theme of privilege, authority figures use their power to manipulate situations to their advantage. Pamela reveals that she keenly feels injustice. Despite being an introvert and someone who deeply respects Lethe, she stands up to the Dean when he behaves unfairly to Alex. She accuses him of victim blaming, revealing that his attempt to minimize the problem places the burden on Alex. The older man’s behavior highlights the power imbalance between him and his younger female subordinates. The altercation with Sandow forces Alex to realize that the dean will offer no protection or help in her investigation. Dean Sandow’s behavior is representative not only of Lethe, but also of the entire university. is one of the student deans, as well as a House leader.
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By Leigh Bardugo
