What Lies Between Us

As part of the adoption application process, a social worker named Claire Mawdsley meets with Nina at her home. As Claire examines the home and questions Nina, Nina lies about her family and romantic relationships to make herself seem like an ideal candidate.

One day, Maggie receives a letter from Social Services about the possibility of Nina adopting. Maggie feels that Nina is unfit to be a parent. Over dinner, she tries to talk Nina out of it, but Nina remains determined to move forward.

When Claire calls Maggie to discuss the possibility of Nina adopting a child, Maggie states that she does not consider Nina a strong candidate. As a result, Claire closes Nina’s application. Nina confronts Maggie, accusing her of treating her like she’s still a teenager to keep her from asserting her independence.

The novel returns to the current timeline. For three days in a row, Maggie and Nina eat breakfast together in Maggie’s room, keeping watch on the house across the street. On the third day, they put their plan into action. Nina carries a letter explaining how the girl can ask for help, which she plans to give the girl discreetly.

Over the next few days, Maggie keeps close watch on the house across the street. She hopes to see an authority figure come to the girl’s aid, but nothing happens. Finding the letter lying on the ground outside her room, Maggie realizes that Nina chose not to intervene after all. At dinner, neither mentions the girl or the letter.

Maggie is surprised when Nina installs a new TV in her room, replacing the broken one, and leaves her on the longer chain, allowing her to access the bathroom at will.

After dinner, Nina relaxes in the garden, drinking and taking an antidepressant pill. She reflects on her decision not to give the letter to the girl. She changed her mind when she saw the mother purchase candy and comics for the girl at a newsstand.

Two years earlier, Nina becomes despondent following her argument with Maggie. Eventually, she visits a medical clinic other than the one where Maggie works for the first time. While meeting with Dr. Kelly, she learns that there is no documentation of Dr. King or the antidepressants he supposedly prescribed for her during the 1990s on her medical record. Dr. Kelly prescribes antidepressants and recommends counseling.

Nina receives a Facebook friend request from Bobby Hopkinson, whom she doesn’t recognize, and rejects it.

When Bobby sends Nina another Facebook request the next day, Nina accepts. He opens a chat session with Nina, and they chat back and forth for the next few days. She asks why he reached out to her, and he explains that she “looked friendly.”

Nina enjoys her ongoing chats with Bobby but continues to wonder about his motives for approaching her. Her imagination runs wild with romantic thoughts. She decides to stop messaging Bobby, but soon resumes their conversation, demanding to know the truth. Bobby admits that he believes they are siblings.

When Maggie finds a lump in her breast, she reflects on her relationship with her mother, an austere woman who died of breast cancer, as did her mother and sister. On her deathbed, Maggie’s mother admitted that she “didn’t have the capacity for love” (197). Maggie resolved to have a better relationship with Nina.

Maggie is unusually reserved during dinner. Nina questions her until she admits that she found a lump in her breast. After feeling the lump herself, Nina wonders what to do.

Two years earlier, Nina is shocked by Bobby’s assertion that he is her brother. She agrees to meet him at a pub the next day. When Bobby arrives, after some nervous small talk, he explains that he was adopted. Nina jumps to the conclusion that Bobby must be her half-brother, sharing the same father. Bobby shows his birth certificate listing Maggie as his mother. Based on the date of birth and his given name, Dylan, Nina realizes that Bobby is her son.

Without a word of explanation, Nina leaves Bobby sitting in the pub. Returning home, she looks at a picture of Jon, noting his similarity to Bobby.

Determined to seek answers, Nina verifies the authenticity of Bobby’s birth certificate and orders a copy of her own medical records. Examining them, Nina realizes that she was never diagnosed with a genetic disorder, nor was she prescribed antidepressants in her teens.

After Maggie falls asleep, Nina begins to search the house for evidence that might explain what happened. In the basement, she locates various mementos from her childhood, including the memory box that Alistair gave her. She also finds suitcases filled with medicine containers. An Internet search reveals that the now-discontinued drug the containers held, Moxydogrel, is a sedative that produces symptoms matching Nina’s experiences after giving birth; it can also cause early menopause. There is also one container of Clozterpan, a drug that can cause miscarriage, which Maggie used to abort Nina’s first pregnancy. Nina locates documents about Maggie’s decision to present Dylan as her own child and give him up for adoption. Finally, Nina finds several of Alistair’s possessions, including a wallet.

Struck by a sudden suspicion, Nina begins to dig in the garden where she once thought her child was buried. She finds Alistair buried there instead and becomes convinced that Maggie killed Alistair.

The novel returns to the current timeline. The day after finding out about the lump in Maggie’s breast, Nina researches and purchases a variety of items that are recommended as alternative or supplementary cancer remedies. Maggie thanks her but remains skeptical of Nina’s suggestions. She reminds her of the importance of diagnosing cancer as early as possible.

With the longer chain attached, Maggie enjoys the luxury of taking a bath and ponders her future. Afterward, she takes down a photo of Alistair that was too high for her to reach with the shorter chain.

Two years earlier, Maggie wakes up feeling grogginess, pain, and disorientation. She asks for an ambulance. Nina gives her something to drink, and she falls back asleep.

The next time she wakes, Maggie asks what happened, and Nina simply replies: “Moxydogrel.” Finding herself chained in her room, Maggie wonders: “What does she know?” (234).

Nina watches as Maggie examines her room, newly renovated to keep her captive. Nina began drugging Maggie 10 days earlier with leftover Moxydogrel while builders made adaptations to the upstairs area, such as soundproofing. Nina also called Maggie’s work to report that she had a stroke and contracted vascular dementia.

Maggie panics. She wonders what Nina found out that motivated her to put her in captivity. Nina explains her anger about Maggie drugging her, causing infertility and a miscarriage, and giving away her child and later spoiling her chances to adopt. Maggie explains that she did everything with Nina’s best interests in mind. Nina also accuses Maggie of killing Alistair. Maggie, who knows that Nina killed Alistair, fails to contradict her, still wanting to protect Nina from the truth. Maggie explains that she lied about Nina having a chromosomal disorder that would cause birth defects to motivate her to be more careful about sex.

Furious, Nina begins to strangle Maggie. She feels as though she has been similarly angry in the past, though she can’t remember the details. Letting go, Nina leads Maggie downstairs to a window. She points to the garden, where she found Alistair buried. Maggie insists that the truth about Alistair is “complicated,” but does not explain further. Nina leads her back upstairs and locks her in her room.

The novel returns to the current timeline. At work, Nina continues to worry about the lump in Maggie’s breast. She makes a list of ways to help Maggie, but eventually decides to do nothing; she cannot trust Maggie to not call for help in public.

Several days pass, with Maggie and Nina not sharing any meals. One day, Bobby appears, though Maggie does not know who he is. He takes Nina away in his car. Maggie peruses the alternative cancer treatment literature provided by Nina and finds it useless.

Two years earlier, Nina meets Bobby a second time. It is six weeks after their first in-person meeting. After Bobby affirms that he wants to know the truth, Nina explains that she is his mother. She tells the story of his birth, though she claims that Maggie died a few years ago.

Nina continues to meet Bobby, whom she thinks of and refers to as Dylan, the name she gave him. She occasionally feels an almost-romantic attraction to him and has to remind herself that he is her son. She feels jealous of his adoptive parents and the “stolen years” they spent raising him. For his part, Bobby has yet to tell his adoptive parents about Nina. When Bobby confides that he is gay, Nina expresses her unconditional support. She is disappointed to learn that Bobby thinks of her as a friend rather than a mother figure.