Chapter Sixteen: Four Years Earlier
Contains spoilersOverview
Jonathan Truscott narrated the worsening atmosphere at home after a police visit about stalking, suspecting his wife and stepdaughter Emma were planning to leave him. He canceled a planned weekend away with Martha, then impulsively visited her that evening, deepening their affair with intimacy and manipulative confessions. At Martha’s house, he charmed her family minimally, invented tragedies about his past, and contrasted her warm home with his cold life in Reading. He ignored messages from his wife, switching his phone to flight mode to avoid detection.
Summary
Jonathan Truscott described a sour, distrustful mood in his Reading home after police questioned him about harassment, noting that although no charges were brought, the fallout remained. He observed that Emma, his wife’s daughter, had been timing visits to avoid him. Convinced his wife was secretly planning to leave, he resolved not to allow the marriage to end on anyone else’s terms.
Jonathan had intended to tell his wife he would be away in Belfast for work, a cover story for a weekend trip to Cambridge with Martha. Fearing that his absence would let his wife lock him out or mobilize support, he canceled the weekend with Martha but insisted on seeing her immediately that night. On the phone, he pressed her, framing his feelings as profound and unique to overcome her hesitation.
Martha agreed, and Jonathan left the house without telling his wife. At Martha’s home, he encountered her older son (a teenager) who acknowledged him with a small smile, and he deliberately avoided overfamiliarity. Martha welcomed him into her moody blue, brass-accented kitchen, and they shared champagne as Jonathan admired her appearance and manner.
While talking, Jonathan recited a familiar, fabricated backstory: a revered but deceased partner named Ruth, a cruel estranged father, and a late mother who saved champagne for the right moment. Martha responded with sympathy, and Jonathan noted internally that the Ruth story was a strategic invention to make his single status seem tragic rather than suspicious.
Martha’s younger son, slight and wary, appeared in pajamas, eyed Jonathan distrustfully, and left to brush his teeth at Martha’s prompting. Jonathan took over cooking, contrasting Martha’s warm, lived-in home with his own minimalist, cold kitchen in Reading, and fantasized about replacing his current life with one alongside Martha.
As he prepared dinner, Jonathan received a text from his wife asking where he was. He silenced the situation by switching his phone to flight mode and pocketing it, choosing to ignore her and remain immersed in the evening with Martha.
Who Appears
- Jonathan Truscott
narrator; married, recently questioned by police about harassment; cancels a trip with Martha but visits her that night, manipulates with a fabricated past and ignores his wife's message.
- Martha
Jonathan’s affair partner; hosts him at home, is receptive to his declarations, and shares champagne; mother of two sons.
- Jonathan’s wife
unnamed; distant after police visit; suspected by Jonathan of planning to leave; texts Jonathan asking where he is.
- Emma
Jonathan’s stepdaughter; visits her mother at times that avoid Jonathan, suggesting collusion about next steps.
- Martha’s older son
teen; briefly interacts with Jonathan with a small smile.
- Martha’s younger son
child; distrustful of Jonathan, sent to brush his teeth.
- “Ruth”
fictional deceased partner (discussed); an invented figure Jonathan uses to elicit sympathy.
- Jonathan’s father
discussed; portrayed by Jonathan as abusive and estranged, part of his manipulative narrative.
- Jonathan’s mother
discussed; deceased, used in Jonathan’s anecdote to frame his champagne philosophy.