Nine Perfect Strangers

Ben and Jessica step out of their yellow sportscar at the entrance to Tranquillum House. Jessica approaches the beckoning Frances, while Ben worriedly inspects his car for scratches. He and Jessica argued furiously over his reluctance to drive down the stony road and risk his expensive car. She convinced him to visit the spa in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage. He struggles to come to terms with Jessica’s recent tendency toward consumerism and plastic surgery. He reflects on the robbery two years ago that changed their lives. Ben approaches Frances’s car. She flirts with him and makes him feel uncomfortable. When he tries the intercom, someone inside the spa responds. As they drive through the gate, Ben agrees to pretend that the car doesn’t belong to him. Jessica remarks that she recognizes Frances, as she “used to be crazy about her books” (32).

Frances drives to the spa, a Victorian sandstone mansion, thinking about Jessica’s “bad” (33) cosmetic surgery. She wonders how the young couple can afford such an expensive car. However, her mind quickly turns back to the newspaper article that castigated her for being out of touch. She scorns herself for flirting with Ben and promises that she’ll stop. At the main house, she’s greeted by staff members dressed in white uniforms. One of the staff members introduces himself as Yao, her “personal wellness consultant” (34). He arranges for massages and treatments for her various ailments. Frances enters the lavish building, built by an English solicitor using convict labor. As Yao gives Frances the tour, he assures her that no one leaves the 10-day retreat early. Meal times are strictly observed, though Frances has no interest in the gym or early-morning yoga sessions. The large security system and CCTV screen seem incongruous in the “screen-free environment” (38), but Yao insists that guests’ safety is paramount. Frances is surprised when Yao mentions daily blood tests; he assures her that he’s a trained paramedic. After her health check-up, Frances is taken to her room to settle in before her massage. On the way, she meets a tall man in a robe who introduces himself as Napoleon. He introduces his wife, Heather, and his daughter, Zoe, and then enthusiastically praises the spa. Yao takes Frances’s cell phone and promises that she’ll soon feel “as well as [she’s] ever felt” (44). Her room is next to Ben and Jessica’s room, and she sees him on their balcony. Inside, Frances reads her welcome pack and drinks her “mandatory” (43) smoothie. She notices that the chocolate and wine she tried to smuggle into the spa in her suitcase has been confiscated. Through the wall of her room, she hears a man breaking something.

As Ben frets about his car, Jessica worries that he cares more about the vehicle than he does about her. She thinks ahead to the “intensive couples counseling” (46) part of the 10-day retreat; she’s desperate to improve herself and resents that Ben has no interest in self-help. They discuss Frances’s books, which had a profound effect on a young Jessica. She thinks about a time when she and Ben were happier before the robbery. At the time, Jessica immediately thought of Ben’s sister Lucy, who has “mental health issues” (48), substance misuse, and a reputation as a thief. However, Lucy wasn’t responsible for the robbery. Jessica and Ben read their introduction pack: The retreat begins with “a period of silence lasting five days” (49). They have half an hour before this noble silence begins. As they look at each other silently, Jessica fears that Ben no longer loves her.

Frances goes for her massage. The female massage therapist has “the intimidating manner of a prison guard” (52). Frances tries to explain that her back pain occurred near the time that Paul disappeared, but the massage therapist ignores her. Paul Drabble and Frances dated for six months; he’s an American widower with a son named Ari, whom Frances grew to adore. She planned to move to America and marry Paul. One night, he called her in distress to ask for money because Ari was in a car crash and needed urgent surgery. Frances sent him “a vast amount of money” (53), and then Paul disappeared. After a while, Frances became suspicious. To find Paul, she hired a detective, who informed her about a spate of similar scams. Frances felt ashamed. As she gives the massage therapist a shortened version of the story, she turns the questions around. The massage therapist is a divorced woman named Jan who recently met a police officer named Gus. Jan says that she’s new at the spa. Frances detects that Jan might not be as enthusiastic about the ethos of the spa as the other workers. The spa’s director, Jan explains, does “whatever it takes” (57) to help people. Before she can explain, the noble silence begins.

Maria Dmitrichenko, also known as Masha, is the director of Tranquillum House. After an unexpected email from her ex-husband, she forces herself to focus on her spa. She watches her guests closely “for their own good” (60). During the 10 years since her heart attack, she feels that she died and was reborn. The spiritually void but intellectually stimulating corporate lifestyle no longer appeals to her. She thinks about the nine strangers she’ll now try to help. Frances reminds her of a hundred other heartbroken women, but this time Masha wants to provide a more permanent solution. Among the other guests, the only wildcards are Napoleon Marconi and his family, who are seeking stress relief.

Heather Marconi hears the bell ring to signal the beginning of the noble silence. Unlike her effusive, extroverted schoolteacher husband Napoleon, she has no qualms about challenging a “pointless and arbitrary” (63) rule. She knows that he’ll struggle with five days of silence. After many years of marriage, she’s still attracted to Napoleon beneath his “nerdy demeanor” (64) but she’s occasionally infuriated by his polite insistence on following rules. Silently, she imagines punching him in the face. When the rage subsides, she worries about the mental health of her studious 20-year-old daughter, Zoe. She thinks about the other guests and the last time she had sex with her husband, which was three years ago. Now, she believes that sex with Napoleon isn’t “possible anymore.” As she’s lost in her thoughts, Napoleon whispers a few words of encouragement. She’s thankful that he’s breaking his beloved rules for her.

Silently, Frances attends her first guided meditation session. She scrutinizes the other guests and tries to guess their stories. In the meditation room, she realizes that one of the guests is the man who came to help her when she was screaming on the side of the road. Frances names him serial killer in her mind. He seems to sneer at her. They’re joined by a flustered middle-aged woman, a handsome man, and Masha, who leads the meditation session. Frances is struck by Masha’s eerie, otherworldly beauty, which makes her feel self-conscious about her own body. Masha delivers an uplifting speech, promising her guests that they’ll be transformed by their stay at Tranquillum House. She explains that she was declared clinically dead during her cardiac arrest ten years ago and the experience made her “eternally grateful” (73) for life. Zoe stands unexpectedly and excuses herself from the room. In the ensuing confusion, the serial killer asks whether anyone searched the guests’ bags.

Zoe leaves the meditation room to deal with her mini panic attack. Masha’s speech reminded Zoe of the funeral for her twin brother, Zach. Since Zach’s death three years ago, her parents have been overprotective of their daughter. She thinks about the wine she smuggled into the spa to toast her brother’s memory on his birthday. Her need to be with her parents on the anniversary of her brother’s death led to a break-up with her boyfriend. Frances appears and talks to Zoe in the library; they discuss their smuggling attempts and the ban on chocolate and alcohol. Zoe explains her brother’s death and her fears that her family has developed unhealthy eating habits. They discuss failed relationships and literature. Frances finds one of her books on the shelves. Zoe hides her low opinion of the book’s cover but promises to read it. Before they return to the meditation session, they joke about now being in an “alliance” (82).

Masha is annoyed that Tony Hogburn used Zoe’s departure to break the noble silence and demand a refund. She uses his outburst as a “serendipitous opportunity” to instruct the whole group as she resolves Tony’s irritations. Zoe and Frances return to the room and the meditation session begins in earnest.

Later, Frances lays down in her room and reads, even though the noble silence forbids reading. She grows frustrated with the novel and tries to calm her thoughts, as recommended during the imposed silence. She thinks about the other guests and the “mindful” (87) dining experience they shared silently earlier in the evening. Frances thinks about leaving the spa, remembering Jan the massage therapist cautioning her against doing anything that she was “not comfortable with” (88). She falls asleep until a light shining in her face awakens her.

Lars awakened by Delilah, one of the spa’s wellness consultants, shining a light in his face. She invites him to the starlight meditation session, mentioning that she might lose her job if he doesn’t attend. Lars accepts the invitation, as do all the other guests. He worries that he recognizes Tony; he might be “one of the husbands” (91) whom Lars aggravates so much. Lars thinks about the other guests and what his boyfriend, Ray, would think about them. Ray, who’s not a regular guest at the spas that Lars frequents, asked to accompany Lars on this trip. However, Lars said that he’d rather go alone. Lars is still thinking about the message from Ray’s sister, Sarah, asking him to consider having a child with Ray (using her as the surrogate mother). Lars vehemently opposes the idea, as he doesn’t want children. As a falling star passes overhead, Lars remembers how he knows Tony.

With Frances asleep on the yoga mat beside her, Jessica regrets that she didn’t have time to put on make-up. She misses her phone, worried that failing to record the moment might mean that “it wasn’t really happening” (94). As she lays under the stars, Jessica thinks about the day Ben told her that they’d won the lottery. Ben’s mother sent them the ticket in a sympathy card after their house was burgled. They won $22 million. After the realization settled in, Jessica was delighted, but Ben feared the money would change them. The money caused problems with family members, including Ben’s sister, Lucy. No matter how much money they gave Lucy or how much they spent on drug rehabilitation treatments, she always demanded more. To Jessica, Ben seemed depressed by their unexpected wealth. The only thing that made him happy was his sportscar. The yoga session ends but Jessica is no closer to answering her myriad questions.