The Golden Couple

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 7

Part 1, Chapters 8-14

Part 2, Chapters 15-24

Part 2, Chapters 25-31

Part 3, Chapters 32-44

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 2, Chapters 15-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2, Chapter 15 Summary: “Avery”

The narrative shifts to Avery’s first-person point of view. Avery is at Marissa’s gym, scoping out the people to see if she can identify whom Marissa slept with. Avery then goes to Coco, where she finds Matthew talking to Polly. Matthew has a bouquet of roses; he claims that he came to Coco to surprise Marissa—Marissa, however, is at Bennett’s school. That morning, Polly found a note slipped under Coco’s door: “I’m not letting you go so easily” (142). Avery steps outside with Matthew to discuss the note—just then, Marissa arrives. Avery starts their fourth session on the spot. She tells Marissa about the note. Marissa is shocked; Matthew is angry. Matthew suggests that the man could be dangerous. Marissa assures Matthew that the man isn’t dangerous. Matthew asks: “How do you know that? He’s just some random guy, right? I mean, how well could you really know him?” (147). Their conversation is interrupted when Matthew has to leave for work. Avery and Marissa talk alone. Avery confronts Marissa; Avery knows that Marissa is hiding something. When Marissa refuses to come clean, Avery walks away, saying that their sessions are over.

Part 2, Chapter 16 Summary: “Marissa”

The narrative shifts to Marissa’s point of view, as Marissa watches Avery walk away from her. Marissa stops Avery and comes clean, admitting that the man Marissa slept with is from her past and that Matthew knows him, too. Marissa tells Avery: “I’m not hiding it just to save my marriage. It’s to protect Matthew. How could he ever recover from that?” (151). Avery tells Marissa that it’s important to cut off all communication with the man she slept with and that she has to convey this message in person. Marissa texts the mystery man to meet her at a coffee shop on Monday.

Avery leaves, and Marissa returns to Coco. Marissa is stressed out, and Polly’s hovering and questions irritate Marissa more than usual. Marissa tells Polly to take the rest of the week off. Polly leaves. However, Marissa realizes that she needs Polly at the store; Marissa has too much other stuff to take care of to be at the store that week. Marissa calls Polly, hoping to get her back. The call goes to voicemail. After trying to call Polly for hours, Marissa goes by Polly’s apartment. Polly’s roommate opens the door. Marissa asks the roommate to tell Polly that she came by and adds: “And if the exterminator isn’t finished, she can stay in the store tonight” (159). The roommate is confused by Marissa’s mention of an exterminator; Marissa realizes that there was never a rodent problem and that Polly lied. The question is: why?

Part 2, Chapter 17 Summary: “Avery”

The narrative returns to Avery’s first-person point of view. Avery has a doctor’s appointment. As she’s leaving the doctor’s, she notices a man following her. The man is from Acelia, and he accosts Avery: “Just give us a name. […] You volunteered information. Who told you? […] We won’t stop. And it can get much worse” (164). Avery doesn’t give the man any information; she gets in her car and drives away. However, she’s rattled. She wonders how Acelia knew about her doctor’s appointment, since that’s where the man found her. Then Avery remembers that she found Skip in her office the other night. Avery’s appointment book had been open on her desk, and her doctor’s appointment was noted in it.

Later, it will be revealed that, when Skip was in Avery’s office, he was checking her appointment book to see when Marissa is scheduled to see Avery.

Part 2, Chapter 18 Summary: “Marissa”

The narrative shifts to Marissa’s third-person point of view. Marissa is at Bennett’s baseball game. She learns from some of the other moms there that Bennett didn’t play in recent games—however, Bennett lied to Matthew and Marissa and said that he did play. At home, Marissa asks Bennett about this. He reveals that the doesn’t want to play baseball. Marissa knows that Matthew will be disappointed, but she supports Bennett. Bennett can’t find his Cub Scout rope for practicing tying knots, which worries Marissa. The last time that Marissa saw the rope was the night of her affair; it had been sitting on the end table, next to the old sofa that Marissa has now disposed of.

Part 2, Chapter 19 Summary: “Avery”

The narrative shifts to Avery’s first-person perspective. Avery texts Marissa that the next time she sees Matthew, Marissa should bring up something that makes Matthew a great husband. Avery then texts Matthew: “You told me the first time you kissed Marissa, it was like glimpsing the ocean for the first time. The next time you see her, tell her this” (180). Avery gets a phone call from Lana; somebody has let the air out of all of Lana’s tires. Avery first thinks that it’s Acelia; then she realizes that it’s Skylar. Avery asks Derrick go by Skylar’s house wearing his security uniform. Derrick tells Skylar that she’s been caught on video letting the air out of the tires of Lana’s car tires and that this is a misdemeanor; Derrick says that the car’s owner is considering pressing charges and suing Skylar for court costs, and that the car’s owner is considering (legally) disseminating the video to Skylar’s work, neighbors, and social media connections. Skylar is afraid and backs down; she will leave Avery and Lana alone. The entire video is a bluff. Avery notes: “A different video marked the beginning of my trouble with Skylar. Now this nonexistent one will end it” (184).

Part 2, Chapter 20 Summary: “Marissa”

The next morning, the narrative shifts back to Marissa’s third-person point of view. Marissa and Polly have made up, and Polly is back at Coco. Polly explained her lie about the rodent infestation: In truth, she was having trouble with her roommate and needed a break. Marissa accepts the excuse but still plans to hire someone else to replace Polly, keeping her only out of necessity in the meantime. Polly suggests that they look at the store security footage to see who left the note under the door the other day. Marissa lies to Polly and says that the footage doesn’t have anything useful. In fact, the footage shows an unhoused man from the neighborhood, Ray, slipping the note under the door. Marissa talks to Ray, who tells her that a man gave him $20 to slip the note under the door. Marissa sees that Ray is wearing a pair of blue leather gloves. Marissa recognizes them—they belong to the man with whom she had the affair. Marissa knows this because she gave him the gloves for Christmas.

Later, it will be revealed that Matthew purposefully bought a set of blue leather gloves, just like the one Marissa bought Skip. Matthew then gave those gloves to Ray on purpose.

Part 2, Chapter 21 Summary: “Avery”

The narrative shifts to Avery’s first-person point of view. Avery goes by Coco when Marissa is away and talks to Polly. Avery is suspicious of Polly; she notices how Polly seems to admire Marissa to an unhealthy extent; for example, mimicking the way that Marissa ties her scarf. While Polly is busy with a customer, Marissa searches Polly’s bag. Inside, Marissa finds the note that was left for Marissa. The note’s been torn up and taped back together. Avery realizes that Marissa tore up the note and trashed it and that Polly must have gotten the note out of the garbage and taped it together. Avery wonders about Polly: “Who are you, really, and what exactly are you up to?” (202).

Later, it will be revealed that Matthew hired Polly to keep an eye on Marissa. However, Polly acted in good faith: Matthew told Polly that Marissa was pregnant and that he was worried about her.

Part 2, Chapter 22 Summary: “Marissa”

The narrative flashes back to Marissa, who is making a surprise visit to Matthew’s office. Matthew seems happy to see Marissa. Marissa is pleasantly surprised to see that Matthew’s office is full of family photos, including their wedding photo. “Marissa experiences a flash of shame. She felt abandoned by her husband—even ignored at times—but all the while, he was surrounding himself with images of their family while he worked. Maybe he felt as lonely as she did” (208). As Marissa leaves Matthew’s office, he completes his homework assignment from Avery and whispers in her ear: “The first time I kissed you, it was like glimpsing the ocean for the first time. All these years later I still feel the same way” (209).

Later, it will be revealed that Matthew stole this line from Skip.

Part 2, Chapter 23 Summary: “Avery”

The narrative shifts back to Avery’s first-person point of view. Avery is trying to figure out who Polly is and what her strange interest with Marissa is. Avery’s imagined scenarios range from Polly being obsessed with Marissa to Polly being secretly in love with Matthew. To find out more about Polly, Avery follows her after Polly leaves Coco for the day. Avery follows her to a restaurant that’s right across the street from Matthew’s office; Avery realizes this when Matthew’s assistant comes into the restaurant to pick up a to-go order for him. Avery speculates that Polly knows that Matthew comes to this restaurant regularly and that Polly was planning to accidentally “bump into” Matthew.

Polly and Matthew were supposed to meet at the restaurant, so that Polly could fill him in on her latest surveillance of Marissa. However, Matthew doesn’t show up because he’s busy orchestrating a (fake) assault on himself.

Part 2, Chapter 24 Summary: “Marissa”

The narrative shifts back to Marissa’s third-person point of view. Marissa is at home when she gets a call from Matthew’s secretary looking for him. Marissa is worried; neither the secretary nor Marissa can reach Matthew. Marissa’s fears prove correct: Marissa gets a call from Georgetown Hospital. They tell her that her “husband was assaulted and lost consciousness. He’s awake now and is going to be fine, but we’re monitoring him overnight” (226). Marissa is shocked. Marissa calls Polly to come and stay with Bennett, and Marissa rushes to the hospital. At the hospital, Matthew tells Marissa that his assailant came at him from behind and—even stranger—that the person who attacked him didn’t take his wallet, keys, or anything else. Matthew concludes: “It’s like the only thing he wanted to do was beat the crap out of me” (230).

This incident is orchestrated by Matthew to set up Skip. In fact, Matthew injured himself, hitting himself with a brick.

Part 2, Chapters 15-24 Analysis

Part 2 of the book demonstrates the purpose of the dualistic narratorial point of view. The reader, having access to Marissa’s thoughts, already knows that Marissa didn’t just sleep with a random man at the gym—it was a close friend of the Bishops’. However, Avery is only starting to realize that Marissa is being disingenuous about who she slept with. The reader thus observes Avery in sleuth mode—for instance, seeing Avery visiting Marissa’s gym. The discrepancies of knowledge between reader and primary protagonist, Avery, builds tension because the reader must wait for Avery to learn this information. Still, the reader and Avery share one question that drives the rising action in Part 2: Exactly whom did Marissa sleep with? The reader must rely on Avery, the quasi-detective, to crack the case while also gathering their own information from the third-person chapters that show Marissa’s perspective. This helps to align the reader more firmly with Avery, the protagonist.

This draws attention to a significant element of Pekkanen and Hendricks’s characterization of Avery character: She is an antihero who does not display the qualities of an ideal protagonist. This is exemplified by Avery’s penchant for rule-breaking, which speaks to the book’s theme of The Risks and Rewards of Rule-Breaking. The reader observes as Avery infiltrates the Bishops’ lives, stalking them to their places of work and leisure. Avery’s previous actions that led to her losing her license—breaking into a client’s home to film them without their consent—are shown to be repeated, suggesting that Avery’s characterization as an antihero is, as yet, flat. However, Pekkanen and Hendricks have aligned the reader and Avery as co-detectives, which puts the thematic question of the risks versus rewards of rule-breaking to the test. As is the case with the theme of Loyalty Versus Betrayal, the question of right and wrong is blurred to engage the reader. The case of Cameron and Skylar reflects this—Avery did something illegal, with the outcome that Cameron left Skylar, his abusive wife. In this novel, the reader is poised to watch Avery, freed of the confines of a therapist’s license, to repeat her rule-breaking.

The narrative tension in these chapters is elevated through a number of plot twists and red herrings. One is the threatening note that’s slipped under the door of Coco. The plot also thickens around Polly’s character when Marissa goes to Polly’s apartment and discovers that Polly lied about having a rodent problem. Given the worries Marissa has already expressed about Polly being a possible danger, Pekkanen and Hendricks use this falsehood to mislead the reader and Marissa alike. Avery likewise picks up on hints that Polly is a threat—for example, Avery finds the threatening note that Marissa ripped up and threw away in Polly’s bag, taped back together. Threats that were only hinted at in Part 1 of the book become more tangible in Part 2’s rising action.

This is also the case for the threats that Avery faces. For example, when she’s threatened by a representative for Acelia after her doctor’s appointment, the authors foreshadow more danger ahead: The threatening figure warns Avery that “[w]e won’t stop. And it can get much worse” (164). Again, for the time being, the authors lead the narrative to suggest that Skip is the antagonist with the previous red herring that he snuck into her office. The narrative continues to steer the reader actively away from the real villain of the book, Matthew, toward Skip, Natalie, and Polly.

However, just as the narrative is introducing false clues, it is also introducing real clues as the rising action progresses. Bennett’s Cub Scout rope provides an example. This is introduced in Chapter 18, when Bennett can’t find his Cub Scout rope—the fact that he uses it to practice knot-tying for his children’s club makes this item purposefully innocuous. Marissa remembers that the last time she saw the rope was the night of the affair and doesn’t think much of it—this is designed to lead the reader to overlook the clue. However, later in the book, it will be revealed that the rope helped Matthew to learn about the affair. Skip was playing with the rope when he was in the Bishops’ home and tied it in a sailor’s knot—one that Matthew recognized that Bennett couldn’t tie.

This book also introduces another clue that Matthew is the antagonist that won’t be cracked until the book’s very end. Matthew tells Marissa that kissing her for the first time “was like glimpsing the ocean for the first time” (180). In the book’s penultimate chapter, Marissa learns that Matthew stole these words from Skip. This “ocean” also conjures vacation imagery and uses a romantic cliché that relates to Avery’s observations that their marriage amounts to “Instagram post[s]” and “curated moments.” Matthew’s character is the ultimate testament to The Deceptive Nature of Appearances, one of the book’s primary themes. Particularly striking in this section is the orchestrated assault on Matthew. Later, it will be revealed that Matthew staged the whole thing, but Matthew tells Marissa that “[i]t’s like the only thing he wanted to do was beat the crap out of me” (230). Matthew’s entire characterization is based on deception, exemplifying the book’s theme; appropriately, this will only become clear at the end.