49 pages • 1 hour read
Lynn PainterA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Twenty-five-year-old Olivia Marshall moves in with her brother Jack Marshall in Omaha, Nebraska after she burns down her Chicago apartment building. Jack tells Olivia she can stay for a month so she doesn’t have to move back in with their parents while she’s getting back on her feet. One night, she’s sitting on the kitchen counter, drinking beer and eating pretzels when she gets a text from a number she doesn’t recognize. The texter, Mr. Wrong Number, asks her what she’s wearing. Olivia plays along, replying with a joke. He admits he’s gotten the wrong number. They send a few more jokes back and forth before saying goodnight.
Early the next morning, Olivia’s mom Nancy Marshall calls to ask when she’s coming over and if she deposited the money she loaned her. Olivia stumbles into the kitchen for coffee, where she bumps into Jack’s high school friend Colin Beck. She’s shocked by how attractive he’s become and even more surprised to learn he lives with Jack. Olivia knew Colin growing up, but Colin always teased her. When he asks about burning down her apartment while “burning love letters on [her] wooden deck,” Olivia feels embarrassed that he knows the story (11). Olivia tried to burn the letters after discovering that her boyfriend Eli cheated on her with her close friend. She dismisses Colin’s comments and retreats to their home office where she’s staying.
Olivia spends the rest of the day applying for jobs. She lost her boyfriend, apartment, and job all in the same day. She gives up on the applications after jamming the printer and staining the rug with toner powder and goes to visit her parents. On her way out, Mr. Wrong Number texts again. They start bantering and Olivia shares stories about her bad luck. After ending the conversation, Olivia feels lighter.
Olivia loads her car with a trash bag of clothes from high school as she lost everything in the fire. She drives back to Jack’s where she runs into Colin again. He offers her a beer and apologizes for mentioning the fire earlier. They chat for a while before Olivia reveals she broke his printer. Jack helps her fix it and Olivia wonders why he’s acting differently than usual.
The next morning, Olivia gets up early to go running. Jack is shocked to see her up, but Olivia is determined to change her life. Jack confronts her about what happened with Eli and Olivia admits he cheated on her and broke up with her. For a while, Olivia thought her relationship and life in Chicago was ideal. Then she lost everything.
Olivia takes her run and grabs a coffee afterward, embarrassed when she can’t afford the coffee, and the barista covers it for her. Afterward, Mr. Wrong Number texts and Olivia realizes she pocket dialed him. Outside Starbucks, Olivia runs into Dana, the wife of her other brother, Will, and their kids, Kyle and Brady. Olivia agrees to watch the boys for a while even though she has applications to send out. She brings them back to the apartment where they make forts with her air mattress. Colin returns home to grab his lunch while they’re playing together and Olivia notices he seems different.
Olivia struggles to remain focused throughout the following days. She has several interviews, but none go well. In one, she accidentally references her last job at the Chicago Tribune from which she was fired for discussing her coworker’s vibrator in the cafeteria. Meanwhile, she continues texting with Mr. Wrong Number. She interviews with Glenda Budd at the Times. It goes well until Olivia realizes they want her to write a parenting column. She’s written for OhBabyBaby in the past, but it technically “wasn’t a parenting site” (43). Olivia hears herself lying to Glenda and saying she has kids. On her way home, she contemplates the situation. She needs the job and is afraid of having to move home.
Olivia continues taking morning runs. In the afternoon, she naps on Colin’s bed because he’s in Boston for work and the air mattress is uncomfortable. Meanwhile, she and Mr. Wrong Number continue texting. She also babysits for Will and Dana again. One day, Olivia, Will, and Jack hang out at the apartment with the boys and talk about work, life, and Colin. Olivia learns he’s in finance, has a sister, and doesn’t work for his parents’ firm Beck & Beck.
That night, Olivia texts with Mr. Wrong Number. They flirt and talk about sex.
Olivia writes a sample column for the Times and sends it to Glenda. She makes meatballs, planning to make dinner for Jack and Colin that night. After she’s done, she runs to the store for a few more things. At the store, she bumps into her high school friend Sara Mills. The two catch up over coffee and Olivia reveals the truth about the fire, work, Colin, and Mr. Wrong Number. Glenda calls and offers her the job, explaining that Olivia will write the parenting column under the pseudonym 402 Mom and write other cultural and entertainment pieces on the side. Olivia considers telling Glenda she’s not a mom but decides against it. Afterward, Olivia feels like her luck is turning.
Olivia says goodbye to Sara and returns home. Jack immediately confronts her about the mess she left in the kitchen. Colin got home and had to clean it all up. Olivia apologizes and reveals her dinner plans.
Olivia, Colin, and Jack have dinner together. Olivia finds herself joking with Colin, pretending that she’s being investigated for arson. In reality, the fire wasn’t her fault as the building was under construction and the crew left hazardous waste in the stairwell that caused the building to catch fire. She also tells Jack and Colin about her new job and teases them about being their roommate.
Afterward, Jack and Colin start watching the game. Olivia texts Mr. Wrong Number. She looks up from her phone to see Colin staring in shock at his phone.
The opening chapters of Mr. Wrong Number introduce the narrative’s primary characters, conflicts, stakes, and themes. Because these chapters are all written from the protagonist Olivia Marshall’s first-person point of view, the narrative tension originates from her perspective. Because she’s recently “burned down [her] building” (1) and had to move home to Omaha, Nebraska, Olivia begins her arc in a transitional phase at the start of the novel. She’s not only lost her permanent residence but also broken up with her boyfriend and been fired from her job. The recent upheaval in Olivia’s life complicates her ability to feel settled and confident in the narrative present. Over the course of the novel, her arc sees her moving from a place of uncertainty and insecurity to a place of contentment and self-acceptance, highlighting the novel’s thematic interest in Self-Discovery During Times of Transition.
Painter makes Olivia’s primary desire clear: to reestablish herself as an independent woman. Compelled to accept help from her brother, his roommate, and her parents, Olivia begins the novel eager to reclaim her autonomy and self-sufficiency. Olivia’s deep desire for independence manifests in her willingness to do whatever it takes to find a new job, even acting in ways she normally would not—such as lying to Glenda from the Times about having her own children to secure the job as a 402 Mom. To Olivia, the Times job is “such a perfect position,” which makes it “so hard […] to turn down” (67). Olivia’s decision to maintain the lie about being a mom reveals her desperation. She doesn’t want to continue relying on Jack and Colin’s charity or move home with her parents and is determined to prove herself to be a responsible adult. Her efforts to get “up early and [run] every day” and to participate in Will and Dana’s family life particularly illustrate Olivia’s efforts to grow into the best version of herself (44). The moral conflict inherent in earning the job as 402 Mom under false pretenses introduces the novel’s thematic engagement with The Challenges of Balancing Personal and Professional Goals.
Painter uses the character of Mr. Wrong Number to nuance the overarching conflicts and stakes of Olivia’s storyline. When they first start texting, Mr. Wrong Number only exists in the periphery of Olivia’s consciousness and narrative. However, the longer they stay in communication, the more attached to Mr. Wrong Number Olivia becomes. Their ongoing texting exchange offers Olivia an escape from her otherwise frustrating reality. The anonymity of their relationship gives Olivia the freedom and space to rebuild her confidence through their flirtatious conversations. Painter imbues their exchanges with a consistently light-hearted, fun, and conversational tone, using colloquial language, banter, and humor.
Their easy communication boosts Olivia’s spirits, allowing her to begin to heal from the pain of her recent breakup. After their exchange in Chapter 2, Olivia says that she feels as if she’s waking up again—“[she’s] unloaded on Wrong Number” and she feels “lighter. Light enough to go back to the apartment, in fact. Because really, who care[s] if Jack and Colin [think she’s] a loser?” (21). The self-esteem boost from her exchange with Mr. Wrong Number allows her to reframe her transitional living situation in a positive light: “[T]he reality [is] that [Jack and Colin’s place] was just an apartment for [her] to sleep in for the next month. A really nice apartment that [she]I was going to enjoy, dammit. Like an Airbnb without the required payment” (21). Painter subtly shifts Oliva’s narrative voice, adopting a buoyant, positive tone as she decides to take advantage of her situation rather than bemoaning it—a stance she’s able to maintain as she continues communicating with Mr. Wrong Number in the subsequent days.
Painter uses a cliffhanger—a narrative device that creates suspense and compels the plot forward—to augment the story’s dramatic tension. At the end of Chapter 4, while Olivia is texting Mr. Wrong Number she realizes that Colin isn’t “looking at the TV anymore” but is instead “staring down at the phone in his hand as if he’d never seen a phone before” (80). This final line in the chapter foreshadows the reveal that Colin is Mr. Wrong Number and sets the stage for the novel’s thematic engagement with the Evolution From Friendship to Romantic Love.
By Lynn Painter