Verity

In the manuscript, Verity details the night she met Jeremy at a party and felt an instant attraction. They have sex that night and fall quickly into a deep romance that leaves Verity “obsessed with his laugh, with his cock, with his mouth, with his skill, with his stories, with his hands, with his confidence, with his gentleness, with a new and intense need to please him” (73). She writes, however, that Jeremy soon discovers “one thing that meant more to him than I did” (73).

Lowen pulls herself away from the manuscript and exits Verity’s office in search of food. She eats a late-night dinner with Jeremy and asks Jeremy about the night he met Verity. The details he shares match the manuscript Lowen just read. She takes this as confirmation that the manuscript reflects the truth as it happened, though she will eventually learn that it is in fact a fictional writing exercise. Jeremy and Lowen bond over their shared introversion and experiences with grief. Lowen decides to read another chapter of Verity’s manuscript.

Verity and Jeremy have been together for two years and have just moved in together when Jeremy is sent to Los Angeles for work. To cope with her loneliness during Jeremy’s absence, Verity begins writing. She completes her first novel in the months that Jeremy is away. Upon his return, he finds and reads Verity’s manuscript. He proposes to Verity that night.

The next day, Lowen continues working in Verity’s office. She observes Verity with her nurse on the back porch and suddenly catches Verity “looking right at me through the window, her head turned toward me, her eyes locked on mine” (93). Although she feels threatened, Lowen thinks this moment is a coincidence. She receives a phone call alerting her that she has not been approved for her new apartment and has nowhere to stay. Jeremy offers Lowen the option to say for two weeks until her advance comes through. She begrudgingly accepts his offer.

Later that afternoon, Lowen watches Crew and Jeremy as they work outside. She catches Crew waving at Verity’s bedroom. She looks up and sees Verity’s curtain falling shut. Unnerved, Lowen goes to go check on Verity. She finds her asleep in bed and a fan blowing the curtain open. Lowen continues reading Verity’s autobiography.

On the night of their engagement, Verity and Jeremy conceive. Verity grows very concerned over maintaining her weight throughout her pregnancy. She unveils her antagonistic relationship with her own mother to whom she has not spoken in years. She derides her mother’s weight and perceived laziness. Desperate to maintain her figure, Verity contemplates working out extensively to induce labor, deliver early, and avoid any additional weight gain. Soon, Jeremy and Verity learn they are having twins. Verity becomes jealous over “being the third most important thing in Jeremy’s life” (107). She attempts to induce a miscarriage by taking sleeping pills and drinking wine. When Jeremy confesses to loving the babies more intensely than he loves Verity, she attempts to abort with a wire hanger.

Disturbed by what she has read, Lowen begins to wonder about the part Verity played in the deaths of her children. Lowen heads to the kitchen in search of something alcoholic to drink. She discovers Jeremy at the dining table. He makes her a drink. While she eats dinner, she asks Jeremy about Verity’s chances of full recovery. Jeremy shares that, although Verity is not physically paralyzed, her mind is “similar to the mind of an infant now” and that she will probably never walk or talk again (114).

As Jeremy puts Crew to bed, Lowen observes pictures of the two deceased twins and notices “how easy it is to distinguish the girls from each other” as “one of them has a huge smile and a small scar on her cheek” while the other “rarely smiles” (116). When Jeremy returns, Lowen asks Jeremy about Chastin’s scar. She contemplates whether the scar is a result of Verity’s failed abortion attempt. Jeremy asks Lowen about a scar on her palm. She lies and says she cannot remember where it came from. Lowen feels a growing attraction to Jeremy. She escapes to her bedroom and notices that Jeremy has placed a lock on her door. Lowen unveils her history of sleepwalking and alludes to a night years ago that resulted in her waking up “with a broken wrist and covered in blood” (119).