Pieces of Her

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapter 13-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary: “July 31, 1986”

Content Warning: The Chapter 12 Summary includes two particularly violent scenes, the former resulting in death and the latter stemming from an abusive relationship.

Jane and Andrew are in their brother Jasper’s car, but are afraid it is bugged, so they do not talk. The former gets out of the car to vomit and reminds Andrew that the FBI know everything, and that they think the Army of the Changing World is a cult. She wonders to herself if it is true, if Nick really is a con man and she is in a cult. Jane remembers loyalty tests that Nick gave her, under the guise of training, that put her in danger. As she drives, she performs evasive maneuvers to lose any car that may be following them. She reflects on Andrew, who has tried to die by suicide several times and struggles with drug addiction. Once, when Andrew and Nick were arrested for possessing drugs, they lived in one of the Queller group homes, where Nick met Laura Juneau. Their meeting marked the beginning of the Army of the Changing World, and Nick’s plan for the Oslo conference. Nick’s plan gave Andrew a reason to get sober, and he has remained so for the past year and a half. Following his meeting Laura Juneau, Nick’s plan developed until the Army of the Changing World gained members across the United States.

Jane stops the car outside Nick’s apartment and, when she enters, realizes that Nick is gone. Andrew pulls a box from beneath a chair, and they leave. In the car, he shows Jane the contents of the box—files from Queller Healthcare showing that their father Martin and brother Jasper were involved in a financial scam, collecting funding for patients who were no longer at their facilities. Andrew says he is going to release the information to the media. The box also contains Polaroids of Jane with her body and face badly beaten. Andrew says he won’t ever forgive their father for hurting her, and she thinks about the fact he did so while she was pregnant. He acknowledges that their father abused her for years, and they all ignored it.

Jane and Andrew drive to the Mission District in San Francisco, where the Army of the Changing World is holding the real Dr. Alex Maplecroft at their safe house. Member Paula Louise Evans is outside when they arrive. She reminds them to use their code names—hers being Penny. There is also a man present, referred to only as Quarter. Nick arrives and gives the group a pep talk. Jane goes upstairs to get away from them and enters a locked room. She takes the gag from Dr. Maplecroft’s mouth, who begins to scream.

Chapter 11 Summary: “August 23, 2018”

The narrative cuts to the present. Andy reaches Little Rock, Arkansas. She previously rented a hotel room and slept for 18 hours, and continues to reflect on her stupidity with Mike. She decides to rent two different storage units, filling them with items bought at the Salvation Army and leaving some of Laura’s money in each. Andy uses the Wi-Fi at McDonald’s and learns there is still no news about the man she killed. This means that Laura, though injured, had likely gotten rid of the body. Again, Andy concludes that her mother must be a criminal.

Andy goes to Paula Kunde’s (first mentioned in Chapter 4) house in Austin, Texas. Paula answers the door with a baseball bat, and it is clear that she, too, has been attacked. Andy sketches the man she killed, and Paula says her visitor was the same man. The former then sketches Mike, but Paula does not recognize him. Paula tells Andy that she resembles her mother, and that she herself was in prison for 20 years, but did not meet Laura there. She then tells Andy that, on the news, they are saying that Laura was trying to save the shooter at the diner, not kill him. Suddenly, Paula points a shotgun at Andy, asks if she is wearing a wire, and then tells her to leave.

When Andy opens the front door to leave, Mike is standing there. She kicks him between the legs, and he falls to the ground. Paula asks if Laura sent her, and Andy says “no.” The former gives Andy a folded dollar bill and the name Clara Bellamy, that of a woman in Illinois. Andy returns to her car, searches it, and finds a tracker in her cooler, which Mike must have used to follow her. She leaves the cooler in her car, takes everything else, and then steals Mike’s truck and heads off to find Clara Bellamy.

Chapter 12 Summary: “July 31, 1986”

The narrative cuts to the past. Dr. Alex Maplecroft is screaming, and Jane cannot stop her. She tries to put the gag back in place, but the woman is able to free one of her hands and hit her. The rest of the group come upstairs. Quarter raises a knife to strike Dr. Maplecroft, but she raises her hand and the blade goes through it. As she tries to slash at Jane, Nick punches her and breaks her nose. He punches Dr. Maplecroft several more times until she falls, hitting her head on the bed frame and dying. Jane is upset by Nick’s violence and nearly backs out of the group. Paula is scornful of Jane and recommits to their plans in San Francisco, Stanford, Chicago, and New York. As they discuss what to do, the police shoot Quarter through the window. The group escapes, with Paula driving their van away from the scene; Jane, Nick, and Andrew lay in the back of the van. They plan to drive to their safe house near Chicago, 30 hours away.

Nick opens a box in the van that contains supplies, along with 250,000 dollars in cash. Andrew is doing very poorly, physically. Nick understands that Jane doubts him and works to connect with her. In turn, she wonders if he will be happy about her pregnancy, as he was not happy about the first one. Nick attempts to comfort Jane, but she feels suffocated by him. However, she realizes he is upset, and is drawn back into his plan.

The group finally arrive at the safe house in Chicago. Nick plans to go to New York, while Andrew and Jane stay behind. After the plan is executed, they will cross into Canada, and then travel to Switzerland. Jane recognizes the owner of the safe house as Clara Bellamy, a famous ballet dancer, and Clara recognizes Jane as Jinx Queller, a famous pianist. Jane’s code name is revealed to be Dollar Bill. Clara is married to Edwin, a lawyer who is willing to help the group with potential legal issues. The former mentions Andrew’s declining health, commenting that it is something they have seen before. At first, Jane does not understand what she is saying, but gradually realizes that Andrew has AIDS. The group watch the news and realize that authorities think Jane might be a hostage. They discuss the next part of their plan: Paula will stay in Chicago and handle their planned bombing there, while Nick will go to New York for another bombing.

Nick decides to leave for New York right then, rather than wait until morning. He wants Andrew to go with him, but Jane won’t allow it. She has realized that Andrew might not survive for much longer; she is also angry that Nick knew and did not tell her. They argue, and Nick forces Jane to choose between him and Andrew; she chooses to stay with Andrew. Nick pushes her across the room, where her head hits and shatters a window. He beats her, and threatens to find and kill her if she ever tries to leave him. Then, he strangles her until she passes out.

Chapters 10-12 Analysis

Jane is beginning to reevaluate the things that boyfriend Nick has made her do, realizing that he has been manipulating her. When Jane and Andrew go to the Army of the Changing World’s safe house, the reader realizes that Agent Danbury may be more correct than he knows (from Chapter 9)—with the character of Paula Louise Evans (Paula Kunde), in particular, illustrating the cultish aspects of the group. Slaughter highlights this parallel by using words like “acolyte” and equating Paula’s response to Nick to “a congregant calling back to the preacher” (263). Because Jane and the reader have both received basic information about cults from Danbury, the scene in the safe house is particularly impactful. The reader realizes that, even if Jane is not ready to admit it yet, she is a member of the Cult of Nick. Yet, she feels disgusted enough by the group that she leaves them to go to Dr. Alex Maplecroft and remove her gag, an action that has a dire and immediate effect.

When Nick beats Dr. Maplecroft to death in Chapter 12, the reader now understands what a dangerous man he truly is. In addition, his relentless training and testing of the group speak to a high level of manipulation that allows him to maintain the group. This indoctrination is so ingrained that, even though Jane seems to want to break free, she continues to follow orders.

When Jane meets Clara Bellamy, the two immediately recognize each other. They are both retired, their current identities as cult members clashing with their former identities as famous artists. However, they are able to set this strangeness aside. This encounter underscores the clash between Laura’s (Jane’s) current Identity (2018) and her history (1986). Clara is also the person who reveals what Jane should have seen all along—that Andrew is dying of AIDS. This instance reveals people’s occasional inability to recognize, or their refusal to recognize, the obvious, even from loved ones.

When Jane ultimately chooses Andrew over Nick, she violates the rules of a cult. She has chosen another person over her leader in the Cult of Nick, and her punishment is swift, brutal, and merciless. It is in this moment that we realize Nick’s violence is not limited to the group’s victims. Though terrifying, this scene shows that Jane is beginning to break away from Nick—as her love and grief for her ill brother have superseded her romantic relationship.

Andy has also Taken Control of her journey, seeking Paula Kunde rather than following her mother’s orders. Paula does not tell Andy much about her mother, and is content to let her leave, until Mike appears at the door and Andy injures him. Suddenly, Paula offers Andy a clue. We see Andy’s transformation continue after this incident. Instead of simply running away, she understands that Mike must have placed a tracker on her vehicle. However, instead of disposing of the tracker, she takes Mike’s truck instead. In the face of relentless action, Andy’s decision adds a touch of much-needed humor.