Confessions on the 7:45

Confessions on the 7:45 is a psychological thriller by Lisa Unger published in 2020. Unger has written 25 novels since 2002, most of them in the crime or psychological thriller genres. Her four earliest books were published under her maiden name, Lisa Miscione. Many of Unger’s novels have been New York Times and/or international bestsellers, including Confessions on the 7:45. While Unger has written several series that each contain between two and four installments, Confessions on the 7:45 is a standalone novel.

This guide refers to the 2020 Park Row Books edition of the novel.

Content Warning: Confessions on the 7:45 describes situations such as infidelity, domestic violence, and murder.

Plot Summary

Confessions on the 7:45 weaves together narratives about two families: one plagued by generations of infidelity and domestic abuse and the other a found family of con artists. The two families intersect in ways that keep the reader guessing at their true identities and fates until the very end. The chapters are narrated in the third person from a rotating set of perspectives.

The novel opens with Selena Murphy taking the late train home from work. She has discovered her husband, Graham, is sleeping with their nanny, Geneva, who cares for their two children, Oliver and Stephen. Graham recently lost his job, and Selena went back to work full-time while he searched for another.

Selena sits next to a woman named Martha and, needing to vent, tells her about Graham’s infidelity. Martha reveals that she is sleeping with her married boss. The women commiserate over their complicated situations, and Martha asks, “Don’t you ever just wish your problems would take care of themselves? No effort on your part?” (36). Selena casually agrees but doesn’t see how that could happen.

When Selena gets home, she tells Graham that she knows about his affair, and they argue. She tells him to leave and throws a toy robot at his head. She remembers Graham’s previous indiscretions and even some instances of violence, and she then thinks about her ex-boyfriend, Will, a stable and caring lawyer, whom she left for Graham.

The perspective shifts to Pearl, a young girl who lives with her impulsive and sometimes irresponsible single mother, Stella. Stella often brings men home, and her current boyfriend is Charlie, a man she hired to work at her bookstore. Charlie is different from the other men Stella has dated; he is quiet and intelligent. Pearl connects with him, and he notices how intelligent she is. They often spend time together talking about books and school, even when Stella is not home.

After several months, Charlie and Pearl come home to find that Stella has been murdered. They run away together, and Charlie treats her as a daughter and begins to teach her everything he knows about being a con artist. They travel around the country and con vulnerable people out of money. He calls Pearl “Anne,” but depending on the con, she adopts new personas and goes by different names. She calls him “Pop.” After a bungled scam in Arizona, Charlie and Pearl come back to Pearl’s home city and start new lives with new identities. Pop reveals that he has tracked down Pearl’s real father, and she begins to stalk him and his family. He gives her money to stay away, but she keeps tabs on them.

The morning after Selena confronts Graham, Geneva does not arrive for work. The police arrive; Geneva’s sister has reported her missing. Selena is not sure if she believes Graham when he swears he had nothing to do with her disappearance. Her mother, Cora, dealt with constant infidelity from Selena’s father, and Selena judged her mother for staying with him for so long. Selena sends Graham away for a few days and contacts Will, who can help them navigate their situation with the police.

Selena gets a text from an unknown number. It turns out to be Martha, but Selena doesn’t remember sharing her number. They meet in Manhattan for a drink. Selena tells her that she was wrong about her husband cheating and that everything is fine, but Martha follows her after she leaves and sees her go to Will’s apartment in the city instead of home.

Soon, the police find the dead body of a young woman, and Selena becomes more uneasy about Graham’s role in Geneva’s disappearance. He has a history of violence against women, and when he is in a blind rage, he is capable of horrible things. She and her sons go to stay with Cora while the police continue to investigate. While Selena is out one night, Oliver tells Cora that he took a video of Geneva when she left their house the night before she disappeared. He shows her the video, and she is shocked to see Geneva confronting a woman that Cora recognizes: Pearl, one of her husband’s children from an affair. Cora believes Pearl is involved in Geneva’s disappearance because she is trying to get revenge on her father. They show the video to Selena, and she recognizes Pearl as the “Martha” she met on the train. She goes to her childhood home to confirm Pearl’s identity with her father.

Meanwhile, Pop has taken in a young woman named Gracie, whose mother was murdered like Pearl’s. He wants Pearl to recognize her as a sister, but Pearl sees her as an interloper, and she spends more time away from Pop. Using the name Elizabeth, she goes to community college and finds a boyfriend named Jason. She is ready to stay in one place and stop conning when one night, she gets a phone call from Gracie begging her to come help her. Pearl rushes back home and finds Gracie standing among two dead bodies: Bridget, the woman who threatened them in Arizona, and Pop. Bridget shot Pop, and Gracie shot her. Pearl and Gracie quickly erase any evidence of Bridget having been there and bury Pop on the land. Pearl knows she will have to leave her normal life with Jason and look after Gracie.

During this time, a retired policeman named Hunter Ross is preoccupied with some cold cases. In one, a single mother was murdered 10 years ago, and her daughter disappeared. While eating at a diner, he sees on the news that a young woman named Geneva Markson has disappeared. Geneva’s face looks familiar, and he renews his interest in investigating the case of Stella and Pearl Behr.

Soon, the police reveal that the body they’d found is not Geneva but a young woman named Jacqueline Carson. One of the officers tells Selena that Jacqueline worked with Graham and was fired after complaining about his conduct toward her. Selena confronts Graham, and he is violent toward her. It seems that he is going to kill her when suddenly, Pearl appears. She strikes him in the head so Selena can get away. Selena tells Pearl that she knows that she is her half-sister and asks what she has to do to get her to go away. Pearl tells her that at first, she was set on destroying her father’s life, including his family, but she began watching Selena and Graham more closely and saw that Graham was a bad person. She is sure that Graham killed Jacqueline Carson because she saw him dispose of what looked like a body one night.

The police, with the help of Hunter Ross, make the connection between Pearl and Gracie, or Geneva. They still do not know what happened to Geneva, but they suspect Graham killed her. In a chapter told from Geneva’s point of view, it is revealed that Pearl kept Geneva in a cellar underground away from danger and notified the police that Geneva was missing. Pearl gives Geneva half the money she accumulated from various scams, a new license, and a passport so she can live freely. Pearl decides to meet up with a man she’s been trying to scam and give herself another chance at happiness.

With Graham in prison, Selena settles into a peaceful rhythm. She moves into a new house with her sons near her mother and stepfather. The boys go to a new school, and Will frequently spends time with her family. Occasionally, she gets a text from Pearl letting her know that she is okay and thinking of her. Through the traumatic events in their lives, the half-sisters have formed a strange but strong bond.