73 pages • 2 hours read
John ConnollyThe Book of Lost Things
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 15-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 15 Summary: “Of the Deer-Girl”
In the morning, David parts ways with the dwarves and sets out on the road alone. Even though the dwarves warned him not to stray from the path, David sees an apple tree not far off the road and is so hungry that he leaves the path and climbs the tree to begin eating apples. Moments later, a creature appears with the body of a deer and the head of a young girl. As David watches, a huntress on horseback shoots the deer-girl with an arrow, then severs the deer-girl’s head from her body. The huntress spots David up in the tree and captures him, binding his wrists and ankles and placing him across her horse’s back alongside the body and severed head of the deer-girl.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Of the Three Surgeons”
The huntress takes David to her stone house filled with mounted hunting trophies of both animals and humans. David also sees two large tables stained with blood, sharp knives, and jars filled with body parts. As David lies on the floor, the huntress mounts the deer-girl’s head on a piece of wood, preserving her skin with a waxy substance. She reveals that she grew tired of hunting animals because of their lack of intelligence, and hunting humans was too easy since their bodies are weak, so she now creates her own prey by combining the cleverness of humans with the physical agility of animals. She has a special salve she uses to bond a human head to an animal body, which is how she created the deer-girl. She reveals her plan to put David’s head on a fox’s body, telling him she will begin her work on him tomorrow. David lies awake all night thinking about his plight and uses his memory of the Woodsman’s story about the gingerbread house to make a plan.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Of Centaurs and the Vanity of the Huntress”
In the morning, David tells the huntress that he has always wanted to be a horse. He explains that in stories he used to read, the centaur, a creature that is half horse and half man, was the perfect hunter. He cleverly compares the huntress to a centaur, telling her that she, mounted on her horse, could never move as smoothly or quickly as a centaur. The huntress takes some time to think and returns to David with a proposition. If he helps her become a centaur, she will allow him to go free. David agrees to her plan, and she teaches him how to use the guillotine to sever her body in half, apply the salve to stop the bleeding, and attach her upper torso to the horse’s body.
She frees David’s hands but leaves one of his ankles tied to the table. David pulls the cord to sever the huntress in two, but instead of applying the salve, he uses the blade again to cut off her right hand, and a third time to free his ankle. As he runs for the door, the huntress applies the salve to repair her wounds and uses her arms to pull herself towards David as he struggles with the key to unlock the door. As she reaches for his leg, David runs outside and is confronted by strange beings that the huntress created. They have the heads of beasts and the bodies of children. David moves away as the creatures advance towards the huntress, and he refuses her pleas for help as the creatures attack her.
Chapters 15-17 Analysis
David’s imprisonment and escape from the huntress displays his increasing maturity as he must rely on his wits and bravery to survive. Although he childishly leaves the path against the advice of the dwarves, he shows maturity once captured by refraining from panic despite the threatening nature of the huntress’ lair. He remembers stories he’s read in which characters outsmart their enemies and devises a plan to outsmart the huntress. He faces the reality that he has no one else to protect him and takes responsibility for his own fate. Finally, he displays bravery by cutting off the huntress’ hand and running away, rather than blindly following her instructions. David’s take-charge actions and intelligence show his developing sense of responsibility and maturity. As his quest towards the king progresses, he learns about himself and gradually grows away from childhood, towards adulthood.
