50 pages • 1 hour read
JP DelaneyThe Girl Before
JP DelaneyFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “A person close to you confesses in confidence that they ran someone over while drunk. As a result they have given up drinking for good. Would you feel obliged to report it to the police? —Report — Don’t report”
The chapter opens on Edward preparing sashimi lobster for Emma. Edward tells Emma that he’s in the running to win a contest to design a whole town using the same principles as One Folgate Street. Emma says out loud that she “can’t believe most people would want to live like this” (137) and narrates internally that when Edward comes over, she “still frantically rush[es] around” (137) cleaning up. In bed, after dinner, Edward tells Emma, “you’re mine now,” and she describes feeling a “strange little thrill of satisfaction, of being owned” (139). Later on, Edward is cleaning up in the kitchen, and drops the teapot that Simon had bought Emma.
Later in the chapter, Emma goes to court to give testimony against Deon Nelson, the man who assaulted her. After testifying, DI Clarke and the lawyer explain to her that the “magistrates have granted bail” (148) and that there are some difficulties with the case. DI Clarke asks Emma if she’s positive that she hasn’t seen Nelson, and she says no, even though she’s not sure. While Emma is talking to DI Clarke and the lawyer, Simon interrupts, trying to win her attention back. Emma is grateful for Edward’s presence as he cuts off Simon’s pleas. As Emma leaves with Edward, she looks back and sees Simon watching them, “mute with misery and anger” (149).
In Chapter 6, Jane begins seeing Emma’s former therapist, Carol Younson. At their first meeting, Jane explains that she doesn’t just want to talk about her stillbirth and asks Carol to talk about Emma Matthews. When Carol says that she can’t break client confidentiality, Jane explains that she’s also living at One Folgate Street and “having a relationship with the same man” (141). Carol seems surprised, then says she will break confidentiality because it “may prevent harm from coming to someone else” (141).
Carol explains her thoughts about Edward’s potential danger, starting with Sigmund Freud’s theory of “repetition compulsion,” in which “someone acts out the same sexual psychodrama over and over again” (144). Carol explains that both Edward and Emma had repetition compulsions: Emma sought out abusive behavior, and Edward sought out absolute control. Carol continues by expressing that she believes Edward has “all the classic behaviors of the narcissistic sociopath” (145). As Carol describes some other aspects of Emma and Edward’s relationship, Jane realizes there are direct parallels of things Edward has said to her. Jane leaves the session by telling Carol that she doesn’t think she will ever “be coming back” (147).
At the end of the chapter, Edward takes Jane to a museum and then to a fishmonger. Jane tests Edward’s behavior and decides that Carol “was wrong about him” (152). Edward asks Jane if he can move in with her, and Jane says yes. As Edward moves in to One Folgate Street, Jane continues observing his behaviors and belongings. She asks him how he manages with “so little” (155), and he explains that he feels he has “finally found the perfect woman” (155). Jane feels happy about his passion for her.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Your friend shows you a piece of work she’s done. She’s clearly proud of it, but it isn’t very good. Do you: — Give her an honest, dispassionate critique — Suggest one small improvement to see if she welcomes it — Change the subject — Make vague, encouraging noises —Tell her she’s done really well”
Jane and her coworker, Tessa, attend a mediation session with the hospital where Jane’s stillbirth occurred. Tessa is experienced with these proceedings, and advocates for Jane to receive “an admission […] by the hospital that avoidable errors were indeed made” (159). The hospital administrator explains that if they make such an admission, the doctor, Gifford would have to be suspended until other decisions were made. Tessa has previously explained to Jane that the hospital should be held accountable, at the least because of the baby’s death, but also because of the changes to Jane’s life after the stillbirth. At the end of the mediation, Dr. Gifford says that he will take “full responsibility” (161).
Jane expresses to Edward her conflicted feelings about whether or not to go further with the hospital case. During the discussion, Jane observes Edward’s responses, trying to determine if they match the “narcissistic sociopath” (162) described to her by Carol Younson. Edward tells Jane that her friend, Tessa, might be making this a “personal crusade” (162); Jane notes that what he might be doing is separating her from a friend, just as he separated “Emma from her friends and family” (162). Jane and Edward continue adjusting to living with one another, and Jane narrates that they feel “complementary” (168). At the end of her section of the chapter, Jane says that her relationship with Edward at One Folgate Street is “like a palimpsest,” with Emma always in “the corner of the frame” (170).
In Chapter 7, Emma goes to the police station and correctly identifies Deon Nelson in a photo line-up. She is questioned several times about “witness veracity” (165) and whether or not she could have seen him at the bail hearing. After she signs the forms, Emma feels “horrible” about the possibility of being “attacked in court by a lawyer bent on undermining [her] story” (165). As she walks home, a teenager on a bike pulls up next to her and tells her she’s a “lying bitch” (165). When Edward gets home, he finds her “huddled in the bedroom, sobbing” (166). Edward suggests that if she does just withdraw her evidence, the whole thing could be over.
The chapter closes in the aftermath of a rough, messy sex scene between Edward and Emma. She describes that because Edward found a drawer of “dirty plates or something” she “got the best sex [she’d] ever had” (172). After the intercourse, Edward says, “I lost control” (171) and Emma says, “it’s all right” (171).
Chapters 6-7 Analysis
Jane’s observation that her relationship with Edward is like a “palimpsest or pentimento” (170) is a direct reference to the mirroring structures of her and Emma’s stories. As Jane uncovers more details about Emma’s life, the ways that the two women’s lives overlap become more sinister. Jane’s conversations with Carol Younson highlight this in particular, revealing that Edward’s behaviors are more oriented towards perfection and control than either Emma or Jane individually is aware of. The physical landscape of One Folgate Street also supports the metaphorical idea of the two women’s lives being a palimpsest, with interactions happening in the same parts of the house but at different times. For example, both Emma and Jane sit at the counter, watching Edward cook them dinner. In this sense, the house becomes almost another character in the reflecting narratives of Emma and Jane’s lives.
The novel’s foreboding tone is heightened after Jane learns about repetition compulsion from Carol Younson. As the only character to directly break away from her own repetitive lifestyle, Jane is a fitting investigative narrator to begin examining the behaviors of the other people in the novel. As Jane tries to learn more about Emma from Edward, she observes how tight and controlled Edward is. In direct contrast to Jane is Emma, who seems to take great joy in challenging Edward to break his carefully-arranged actions and give her the violent sexual encounters she desires. The only other character who seems to demonstrate repetition compulsion is Simon, who continues to reappear in both Emma and Jane’s narratives at each moment of tension. The repetitive nature of each character’s actions adds to the feeling that the novel is like a palimpsest, with each layer of interaction building over the others.
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