Safe Haven

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-29

Chapters 30-38

Chapters 39-43

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 7-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary

Jo comes over to Katie’s cottage Sunday night with a bottle of wine. Katie grows tipsy from the alcohol, and Jo pushes her to talk about her past. Katie tells Jo a story about a friend who met a man in Atlantic City. The man saved her from two attackers. They went out the next day, and the friend believed the man was kind: “He treated her like a princess, right up until she was on her honeymoon” (64). However, the man was cruel, controlling and beating his wife. The friend tried to run away twice but ended up going back the first time because she had nowhere to go; he found her the second time and dragged her back home. On that occasion, he held a gun to her head and promised to kill her if she ever left again. The friend began stealing money from his wallet, “never more than a dollar or two, because otherwise he would notice” (65). The friend knew she had to get away and start over. Jo says the friend has courage, but Katie insists she is afraid all the time. When Jo gets up to leave an hour later, she notices a bicycle leaning against a tree in front of Katie’s cottage. Katie finds a note from Alex on the bike.

Chapter 8 Summary

Katie arrives at Fisher’s early the next morning, angry about the bike. Alex was expecting her and is not surprised when she wants to talk to him outside. Katie says that she doesn’t need handouts and asks him to stop giving her things. She also insists that he take the bike back. Alex explains to her that the bike belonged to Carly and is associated with his memory of the first symptoms of the terminal illness that ended Carly’s life. Alex wants the bike gone, but he wants it to go to someone who will appreciate it. He also tells Katie that he is like her, in that he never wanted help, but he “learned that it’s okay to accept some help every now and then” (72). Won over by his arguments, Katie agrees to keep the bike. As they finish talking, the kids come outside and invite Katie to go to the beach with them. Katie agrees under pressure from Kristen.

Chapter 9 Summary

Alex drives Katie and the kids to the beach. They play at the water’s edge for a few minutes, but then Kristen tells Alex she is hungry. Alex tells the kids they need to go with him to the picnic table to get the food ready, but they are having too much fun. Katie volunteers to stay with the kids. Alex leaves them to play.

Chapter 10 Summary

The kids get cold, so Katie walks them back up to the picnic table where Alex is preparing the food. Immediately, the kids decide to go back down to the water’s edge to build a sandcastle. Katie offers to go with them, but Alex tells her that as long as the kids stay out of the water, it’s fine. Alex and Katie talk as Alex cooks, mostly about his childhood in Spokane. Alex says he’s not close to his parents and that they have only seen his kids twice. He also mentions that Carly’s parents don’t come around often because it’s too hard for them since Carly died.

The food is ready, and the family eats as Katie reflects on how “Alex had created special, fun traditions for his kids” (87). The kids help clean up, then Alex takes them out on boogie boards while Katie watches.

Chapter 11 Summary

Katie helps Josh fly a kite. She talks to Josh about his parents, surprised by how open Josh is. Later, Katie and Alex talk, and she learns he was a detective in the army. This causes her to become quiet and distant: “[Alex] could tell she needed space, even if he wasn’t sure why” (92). Katie warms back up a short time later, and Alex tells her about his wife’s brain tumors and what it was like the first few weeks after her diagnosis. Alex then asks about Katie’s family; he learns that she was an only child and that her parents died in a car accident when she was 19. The family packs up but make s’mores before they go. Katie reflects on the day and realizes how much she hopes there will be more like it in the future.

Chapter 12 Summary

Later, Jo comes to Katie’s and asks for details on the day. Jo implies that the outing to the beach was a date, even though it was Kristen who’d invited Katie. Katie accuses Jo of twisting things around to her own perceptions, to which Jo replies, “Did you ever think that it’s because I’m envious” (98)?

Chapters 7-12 Analysis

Katie’s secrets are touched on again as she anticipates Jo coming over for a bottle of wine and snacks. She keeps thinking to herself how normal the act of having a friend over is. Just having a friend is something that is new and exciting to her. This excitement illustrates the idea that Katie has not lived what she considers a normal life and that something this simple and ordinary is extraordinary to her. As the evening goes on, and Katie begins telling her story to Jo, it becomes clear that Katie has had a difficult life and is running from inattentive parents and a husband who is cruel and controlling. Katie’s story, even encased in subterfuge, sets the stage to open a door to her past. The story also clarifies all of Katie’s odd behaviors up to this point, especially her need to have savings so that she can run at a moment’s notice. Katie is clearly afraid her husband will find her and place her and everyone around her in danger.

Katie confronts Alex when he gives her a bike, reiterating that she does not like handouts. When Alex gave her an umbrella from the store, and later when he didn’t charge her for the vegetables, she reluctantly accepted the gifts. This gift, however, is too much for her and she rebels. Katie is accustomed to doing things on her own, depending only on herself. However, when she listens to Alex’s story and reluctantly accepts the gift of the bike, it shows that she is willing to grow and change, and that his kindness and persistence could be what she needs to help her.

Katie goes to the beach with Alex and the family in what appears to be a simple family outing. However, to Katie this is a big deal. She’s not used to this sort of carefree, happy pastime. Again, Katie’s reaction to the outing recalls the isolated, controlled life she lived before coming to Southport. However, it also shows how eager she is to become part of a happy family. In turn, this trip reveals more about Alex, and the reader soon discovers that Katie and Alex have a lot in common. They are both alone in the world; Katie is an orphan, and Alex’s parents and in-laws are not eager to spend time with him and his kids for their own reasons. Katie and Alex are still hurting from the end of their previous relationships, as they look for hope and a bit of happiness. It seems they might find this in each other, but it is still an uncertain road they are traveling. This plays into the book’s broader theme pertaining to the difficulty of embracing love and safety after suffering loss and trauma.

Jo visits Katie, eager to hear everything about her day out with Alex and the kids. Jo’s interest seems like simple friendly curiosity to Katie, but her comment on how envious she is suggests that there is something more to Jo’s interest in Katie’s relationship. Once again, the reader must wonder what her connection to Alex really is.