Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Louise, August 1975”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of alcohol and substance use disorder, domestic violence, misogyny, and the death of a child.
Twenty-three-year-old Louise, a counselor at Camp Emerson, awakens early to discover that Barbara Van Laar, one of her campers, is missing. She thinks through the previous night. A dance was held, and Louise counted all the campers as they returned to the cabin at the end of the night.
Now, Louise wakes her counselor-in-training, Annabel, who is hung over and vomits into a potato chip bag. Louise realizes that Annabel snuck out the night before, just like she did. She gathers an empty beer bottle and a marijuana butt, tossing them in the potato chip bag. Then, she reenters the main part of the cabin and pretends to discover for the first time that Barbara is missing.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Tracy, Two Months Earlier: June 1975”
Tracy Jewell arrives at Camp Emerson because her father, with whom she is supposed to spend the summer, has sent her there. Tracy would prefer to be at home alone, reading quietly. Her father’s girlfriend, Donna Romano, drives Tracy to the camp. Upon arrival, Tracy learns the three most important camp rules. The main one is that if a person gets lost, they should stay in one place and yell.
