49 pages • 1 hour read
April HenryThe Girl I Used to Be
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A 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 27-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 27 Summary: “A Story Going Around”
Olivia is numb in the aftermath of her hypnosis. When Duncan arrives, Olivia takes a break; they discuss what she saw at her appointment. At the time of the murders Olivia, said that her mother was dancing. From the memory, Olivia now knows that she was “pinwheeling her arms, trying to get away, but the killer was yanking her close” (134). She repeats that she didn’t see the killer’s face and that she doesn’t know if the killer was a man or a woman.
Duncan’s mother (Audrey) comes up to them in the store and is introduced to Olivia. She seems to think there’s something romantic going on between them. Audrey invites Olivia to their big summer barbeque. After his mother leaves, Duncan blushes and suggests they pretend to be dating as a cover for the investigation. He says that the party will be a great opportunity for her to check out the many guests. Duncan also tells her a story his father related, in which a young Samantha (Sam) stabbed her alcoholic father with a paring knife. Olivia asks if Sam and Jason will attend the party, which Duncan confirms.
Chapter 28 Summary: “A Lot of Cash”
Olivia goes to McDonalds after work. She sees Heather there and sits close to her to eavesdrop. Jason comes in soon after; he and Heather bicker about his lateness and the child support he has to pay her. Jason asks if the cops have spoken to her. She says yes but assures him that she didn’t tell them anything. Jason says that it could have been any of them who went with Terry and Naomi that day, but Heather dismisses it and promotes the “crazy psycho killer” in the woods theory (140). Jason points out that Richard Lee had bruised knuckles right after the murder and reminds her that he was very broke at the time. Heather says it doesn’t make sense because Terry and Naomi had nothing to steal. Jason counters this—apparently Terry was working extra shifts to catch up on child support. Jason thinks he probably had a few thousand dollars on him at the time.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Discarded”
The newspaper reports that the original evidence from the murders is unusable due to contamination by mold and water after a pipe burst in the evidence room years ago. Olivia is disappointed at the loss of possibilities afforded by fiber, fingerprint, and DNA testing. She wonders if anyone has pointed out to the police chief (Spaulding) that Richard’s life improved after her parents’ murders.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Are They Really That Different?”
Olivia sees Sam in the parking lot when she leaves work. She considers how thin Sam is and wonders if she would be capable of killing two adults. Olivia approaches and asks for a cigarette to have an excuse to talk to her. She tells Sam that she just moved into Naomi’s house. Sam says that Olivia looks like Naomi; Olivia covers by asking if she was also part Native American. When asked, Sam says she thinks they should be considering Jason as a suspect because he was in love with Naomi for a long time and used to carry a knife everywhere.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Wicked Looking Thorns”
Nora comes over to invite Olivia on a walk in the cemetery. They admire the beauty of the place, but Nora soon needs to sit for a rest. She makes Olivia promise to allow her to die if she passes out and wait a long time before she calls someone. Olivia is shocked; Nora tells her that she’s ready to go and that “it’s like having a car that’s starting to nickel-and-dime you. At some point it’s not worth keeping anymore. Besides, I want to see what happens next” (151). A woman walking a dog passes by and refers to Olivia as Nora’s granddaughter. Nora doesn’t correct her, which touches Olivia.
When they reach Naomi’s grave, there is a single fresh red rose there. Nora says it may be from one of Olivia’s mother’s old admirers. Olivia is very surprised that Nora knows who she is. They briefly discuss Nora’s memories of her parents. As they walk more, Naomi spots Ben Gault, who Olivia now recognizes as the man at the funeral who appeared to be experiencing homelessness. When she tries to confirm his name, he runs away.
Chapter 32 Summary: “A Broken Stagger”
Olivia chases after Ben. When she catches him and questions him, she discovers that he is living with a mental illness and has difficulty processing reality. He believes he’s being constantly surveilled and having voices transmitted into his head by the government. She discovers that Ben left the rose on the grave. Ben begins to believe that Olivia is Naomi and grabs her hand, telling her he's sorry over and over again. He has trouble parsing reality, but it seems as though he may have seen something on the day of the murders.
Chapters 27-32 Analysis
More details emerge through this section and, more importantly, more firsthand accounts. Both witnesses—Olivia and Ben—struggle to articulate what they saw on the day; Olivia because of her age at the time, Ben because of a mental illness. The novel thus renders the possible eyewitness testimony unreliable and vague.
The circle of people who know Olivia’s true identity begins to expand. Now Duncan, Quinn the hypnotist, and Nora are aware of who she is. Perhaps the most significant of these additions is Nora, who readily claims her as family and provides the kind of loving support that Olivia lacked for so long as a child. Even as the novel gives with one hand, it takes away with the other; Nora, newly back in Olivia’s life, is already anticipating her imminent death. This forecasts another loss to add to the tragic history of Olivia’s familial bonds.
Some new suspects are added as well, along with a new motive: theft. The revelation that Terry likely had a few thousand dollars on him at the time of the murders adds a range of potential new suspects and motives. It also renders a more material value to Terry and Naomi’s lives than we had before; whereas before it was assumed that there was no real benefit to killing the couple, now the reader knows that Terry had something—and thus, had something to take. New information is helpful, but it also expands Olivia’s list of potential local suspects.
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By April Henry
