The Monster · Chapter
I explained
Leilah and Verplank marry against her father's wishes, but shortly after the wedding, Leilah discovers incriminating letters that shatter her world.
What happens
Leilah and Verplank marry against her father's wishes, but shortly after the wedding, Leilah discovers incriminating letters that shatter her world. She flees Coronado, leaving Verplank bewildered and desperate to find her.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
The chapter opens with the ideal of eternal love, but the marriage quickly unravels due to hidden secrets.
Scandal and Reputation
The backstory of Hilda Hemingway's divorce and the 'enormous scandal' it caused highlights the theme of reputation.
Characters to notice
- Leilah Verplank
Newly married to Verplank, she discovers letters that horrify her and decides to flee.
- M. Verplank
The abandoned bridegroom, trying to understand why Leilah disappeared.
- Matlack Ogston
Leilah's father, who opposed the marriage and returned her letter with a single word: 'No.'
- Violet Silverstairs
Leilah's close friend, who wrote one of the letters on the table.
- Hilda Hemingway
Leilah's aunt, whose past scandal involving Verplank's father is recounted.
Key passages
“It seemed to them that they were born to love each other, to love always, forever. Forever!—in a world where all things must end, and do.”
They believed they were destined for eternal love, even though everything eventually ends.
Sets up the romantic ideal that is immediately shattered.
“Across it was scrawled one word. That word was “No.””
Her father wrote a single word on her letter: 'No.'
Shows Matlack Ogston's opposition to the marriage.
“Then, as truth stared at her and she at truth, so monstrous was its aspect that, with one shuddering intake of the breath, life withered within her, light vanished without.”
The truth she discovered was so horrifying that she felt her life and light drain away.
Describes Leilah's reaction to reading the letters.