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Lucy GilmoreA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Sloane is a primary, dynamic character. Parts 1 and 6 are titled with her name and written from her first-person point of view. These sections render the narrative world according to Sloane’s perception of it. In the narrative present, Sloane is a librarian in her small hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She’s engaged to Brett Marcowitz, a tidy, predictable, and stable chiropractor. Sloane doesn’t have intense feelings for Brett, but no one treats Brett “with anything but respect” (17). Sloane similarly follows Brett’s lead throughout their relationship in spite of her tepid feelings. It isn’t until Sloane starts to make friends beyond her library job and fiancé’s family that she discovers how to take more independent action in her life.
Sloane has been grieving her sister, Emily Parker, since her death when she was a child. Because Sloane doesn’t have a close relationship with her parents, she feels alone in her sorrow. To escape her complex feelings and to distract herself from her social isolation, Sloane has become reliant upon books and reading. When she first meets grouchy library patron Arthur McLachlan, Arthur reminds her that reading “about life isn’t the same as living it” (12). However, Sloane only feels comfortable in the fictional worlds and characters that novels offer her. In books, she’s safe and finds understanding and comfort.
Sloane develops an unexpected friendship with Arthur that pulls her out of her isolation. After she and Arthur get to know one another in the confines of the library, Sloane becomes devoted to Arthur’s well-being. She even sacrifices her job at the library to check in on Arthur after she learns that he has been hospitalized. She assumes the role of Arthur’s unofficial caretaker because Arthur has vivified her “bleak and empty [...] life” (67). Soon, she and Arthur come together to form the Racing in the Rain Book Club out of Arthur’s house. Sloane’s magnetic personality draws characters including Maisey Phillips, Mateo Sharpe, Greg McLachlan, and Nigel Carthage into her new friend group and gives them the belonging they crave.
Sloane changes her friends’ lives in the same way they change hers. Sloane becomes invested in her fellow book club members because they care about her the way that she and Emily once cared about each other. Meanwhile, Sloane is offering her new friends reciprocal support, love, and companionship. By the end of the novel, the characters are so desperate for her not to move away with Brett that they present her with a personalized literary gift to compel her to stay. With and through her friends, Sloane rediscovers who she is and why she is alive.
Arthur McLachlan is another primary, dynamic character. When Sloane first introduces his character in Part 1, Arthur is a curmudgeonly, caustic individual who has no interest in other people’s feelings. He’s a regular patron at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library but shows little familiarity with the staff and does nothing to endear himself to them. However, Arthur begins to change when he meets Sloane, who uncannily reminds him of his late wife, Eugenia Pittsfield. Arthur doesn’t immediately reveal his endearment to Sloane because he’s unaccustomed to vulnerability or kindness. However, throughout his regular library visits, he feels “her presence in [his] life building up until there [is] no escape” (276). The relationship doesn’t negatively entrap Arthur. Rather, Arthur’s unexpected connection with Sloane softens his edges and reminds him of The Healing and Transformative Power of Literature and The Importance of Community Support.
Arthur’s past has dictated his personality and character in the narrative present. Arthur once taught literature at North Idaho College. During his professorial tenure at the school, he was both revered and hated. Years after his retirement, Arthur continues to regard himself as a profound intellectual and academic. He has little tolerance for contemporary literature and condescends to those he doesn’t believe understand critical theory or the canon. Furthermore, Arthur’s fraught relationships with his late wife Eugenia and late daughter Hannah have socially alienated him. Ever since Eugenia’s death, Arthur has been miserable. His unattended grief has augmented his anger and bitterness. As a result, he’s pushed away everyone who’s tried to get close to him. Hannah distanced herself from him when she got pregnant with Greg at 18 because Arthur was volatile, aggressive, and verbally abusive.
Arthur’s involvement with the Racing in the Rain Book Club gradually transforms his character. With the group, Arthur is forced to spend time with an unlikely cast of characters. He initially disapproves of individuals like Maisey and Mateo and pushes Greg away because of their familial ties. Over time and with Sloane’s encouragement, Arthur opens his heart to his new community. His friends not only evolve his relationship with literature but also compel him to self-reflect, ask for forgiveness, and be vulnerable with others. His and Sloane’s connection particularly opens Arthur to life again, reminding him that kinship is a vital facet of the human experience.
Maisey is another primary character. Like Sloane and Arthur, she narrates her experience from the first-person point of view in the section titled with her name. Maisey is also a member of Sloane’s eclectic and unexpected new friend group. She lives across the street from Arthur and inserts herself into Arthur and Sloane’s dynamic in the wake of Arthur’s release from the hospital. Although Maisey has a softer, more emotive and giving personality than either Sloane or Arthur, she is equally as lonely. She’s divorced and has a complicated relationship with her teenage daughter, Bella. She works from home as a tele-psychic. She enjoys her work, because it allows her to use her innate empathy to help others understand themselves and navigate their lives. However, her work augments her alienation, too.
The Racing in the Rain Book Club changes Maisey’s life. Before she and Sloane start the club, Maisey is trapped in her own insular world. She’s grown accustomed to people making promises to invite her to events or to spend time with her, but she finds “the invitation is never in the mail. And no matter how many times [she] call[s], no one ever has time for coffee” (111). This pattern of social isolation changes once she befriends Sloane, Arthur, Greg, and Mateo. Unlike the other acquaintances she’s tried to connect with, her new friends don’t disguise their feelings or push her away. Rather, they listen to Maisey’s personal struggles and offer her advice and encouragement. They support her when Bella moves away to California with her dad and when Bella decides to return. They also open Maisey to The Healing and Transformative Power of Literature and reinforce The Importance of Community Support.
Mateo is another primary character. Part 3 is written from his first-person point of view. Mateo’s character initially appears in the context of Sloane’s narration in Part 1. In Part 3, Mateo’s perspective offers insight into his personal life, his relationship, and his emotional complexities. In the narrative present, Mateo works at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, where he meets Sloane. He doesn’t mind the work and has received a recent promotion, but he knows he wasn't “born to the literary trade the way Sloane was” (159). Rather, Mateo has been moving from job to job for as long as he can remember. His résumé reads more “like a hodgepodge of failed personalities than a formal document” (159). As Part 3 unfolds, Mateo’s narration reveals his reasons for being noncommittal. Because his mother, Althea Sharpe, is a famous jazz singer, Mateo has struggled to claim his own identity in her shadow since he was a child.
Arthur encourages Mateo to pursue a career in the performing arts after seeing him sing with Althea at the jazz club. Mateo has hesitated to do so in the past because he hasn’t wanted to cater to his mother’s expectations and dreams. However, with Arthur’s help, Mateo realizes that defining himself in opposition to his mother has only precluded his self-discovery and personal growth. With the help of his new friends and the Racing in the Rain Book Club, Mateo undergoes a transformation as significant as those of Sloane, Arthur, Maisey, and Greg. He discovers the importance of community support and learns how to exercise his autonomy and chase his own dreams.
Greg is Arthur’s grandson. His mother, Hannah, died just months prior to his arrival in Coeur d’Alene. Like the other primary characters, Greg becomes enmeshed in The Dynamics of Unlikely Friendships when he starts spending time at Arthur’s house with the Racing in the Rain Book Club. Greg was hesitant to visit Arthur after Hannah’s death because Hannah had a historically tempestuous relationship with her father. However, Greg wants to make amends with Arthur on behalf of his mother in spite of the associated challenges.
Greg craves companionship and belonging as much as Sloane, Arthur, Maisey, and Mateo. He has been living alone and grieving ever since his mother fell ill. He doesn’t know what to expect from his time in Coeur d’Alene, but the visit soon turns into an extended membership in his new friends’ community. Sloane particularly offers him comfort, guidance, and support throughout the novel. Her presence encourages Greg to confront his grandfather and pursue healing together. Although they aren’t “good and [they aren’t] whole,” Greg and Arthur discover a way of “getting by” that shepherds them out of the past and into a more sustainable future (263). Greg not only learns how to communicate with Arthur, but he also discovers the importance of family and community during his time in Coeur d’Alene.