Invisible Girl: A Novel

Invisible Girl is 2020 thriller by Lisa Jewell, a British novelist who specializes in writing suspense, thriller, and mystery novels. Invisible Girl follows 17-year-old Saffyre Maddox, who decides to stalk her psychiatrist, Roan Fours, after he stops treating her. When Saffyre goes missing, the police investigate the Fours’ neighbor Owen Picks as their primary suspect because of his anti-social behaviors. The novel explores themes of trauma, loneliness, and family dynamics.

This guide refers to the 2021 Atria Books print edition.

Content Warning: This source material contains explicit references to sexual assault, sexual violence, and molestation. This source material contains racist, sexist, anti-gay, and anti-trans language. Additionally, the source material references instances of stalking, self-harm, violence, and psychological distress.

Plot Summary

Seventeen-year-old Saffyre Maddox has seen her psychiatrist, Dr. Roan Fours, since she was 12 years old to process the trauma of her family’s deaths and receive treatment for self-harming behavior. As the novel opens, Roan Fours moves into a rental with his family while their house is being renovated. Roan’s wife, Cate, feels nervous about the neighborhood since there have been several reports of sexual assault in the area. Cate feels apprehensive about Valentine’s Day because she and Roan have not gotten along since she accused him of cheating on her. Even though Roan denies her allegations, Cate cannot help but feel suspicious. On Valentine’s Day, Roan apologizes to Cate and tells her that they should go out to dinner.

The Fours’ neighbor Owen Pick gets suspended from his job for sexual harassment allegations. Feeling angry and resentful, Owen spends his time on incel forums to vent his feelings. He gets in touch with a man named Bryn who meets him in a pub. Even though Owen feels angry, Bryn’s hatred of women scares him, and he quickly leaves. A few days later, Cate reads about the disappearance of Saffyre in the newspaper. She shows the paper to Roan because she knows that Saffyre is one of his former patients. The police launch an investigation and immediately suspect Owen because several people in the neighborhood, including Cate, have made complaints about his behavior. The police arrest Owen after they find Saffyre’s blood outside his bedroom window.

The narrative flashes back to Roan suggesting that he and Saffyre should stop their sessions since she has made progress. Saffyre considers the fact that she’s never been able to tell him the reason why she self-harms. After Roan ends their clinical relationship, Saffyre stalks him, feeling curious about his life. She discovers that Roan has had multiple affairs and is currently in a long-term relationship with another psychiatrist named Alicia. Saffyre makes friends with the Fours’ son Josh and reveals to him that when she was 10 years old, an older boy named Harrison John sexually assaulted her. She explains that she wants to punish Harrison for what he did to her and that she thinks Harrison may be responsible for the sexual attacks in the area. Josh promises to help Saffyre gain revenge on Harrison.

After his arrest, Owen realizes that he has blackouts when he gets drunk. He suddenly remembers that on the night of Valentine’s Day, Saffyre asked him to boost her onto the roof. He tells the police, and they find evidence of Saffyre on his roof. Josh tells the police that Alicia came to their house on Valentine’s Day—the night Roan broke up with her—and that Josh texted Saffyre to come over. He heard Roan and Alicia arguing, but Alicia eventually left. Later, Saffyre texted Josh that she succeeded in punishing Harrison, but she must go into hiding until the police catch him because he wants to kill her. The police release Owen and look for Harrison.

The narrative flashes back to Valentine’s Day night. Saffyre goes to Josh’s house and tells Alicia not to confront Roan because it could ruin his marriage. Saffyre hides when Roan comes outside. She rushes across the street and asks Owen to boost her onto the roof. From her perspective, Saffyre sees Roan and Alicia arguing. Roan slaps Alicia and she leaves. Saffyre chases after her and sees Harrison emerge from the shadows to approach Alicia. Saffyre attacks Harrison from behind and pins him down, breaking the fingers that he used to assault her when she was a child. As she runs away, Harrison threatens to kill her. Alicia takes Saffyre to her apartment to stay with her until the police catch Harrison. A few weeks later, Saffyre sees that Harrison has been arrested and that several women have come forward to identify him as their attacker. Saffyre comes out of hiding, feeling glad that Harrison will finally be held accountable.

A month later, Owen finishes his sexual harassment training and returns to his old job. Cate moves back into their newly renovated home with her children after leaving Roan. Saffyre feels like she can relax after Harrison receives a prison sentence. However, she wonders who committed the sexual assaults for which Harrison was not responsible. She thinks about the look on Roan’s face when he hit Alicia and realizes that many predators hide in plain sight. She suddenly has a flashback to when she and Josh went looking for Harrison. Josh showed up in black jogging clothes and a balaclava. When Saffyre asked Josh where he got the outfit, he told her that he found it in Roan’s room.