The Cliffs

Content Warning: This section of the source text and the guide refers to alcohol use disorder, suicide, child loss, abuse, abduction, and anti-Indigenous racism and violence. In addition, the source text uses outdated and offensive terms for Indigenous people, which the guide replicates only in direct quotes.

“She spoke the names of the women from as far back as the sixteenth century who wrote down their life stories when no one thought it appropriate for women to write at all. By doing so, they endured. Jane’s brain lit up at the idea.”

The college class that Jane takes one summer during high school sets her on her career path. Thematically highlighting The Potential Subjectivity of Historical Accounts, she focuses on women’s history because they’re typically underrepresented. She realizes that documentation is the key to being part of history, which informs her career as an archivist and collector of women’s stories. In addition, she recognizes the importance of a wide range of perspectives in establishing historical accuracy.

“One of the trees had fallen in the storm. She could see its roots reaching up toward the sky like long, grasping fingers. It had left a gap, through which Jane glimpsed a house, pale purple, very old, with turrets and elaborate trim painted green in some spots and blue in others. One upstairs shutter dangled precariously. The window beside it had been smashed. A white curtain billowed out from within. The woman was right. The house was creepy. Jane had the strongest urge to go there and explore.”

The Prologue introduces the house as pivotal in women’s history in Awadapquit. Jane’s discovery of the house (early in the novel) establishes its importance. The final sentences of this passage show what makes Jane different: The woman on the boat call the house “creepy,” and Jane agrees, but this only makes her more interested in it, which reveals the seeds of her interest in history.

“Her son’s tiny room was behind a hidden door, which, when closed, blended completely into the wall—no trim, no doorknob. They had several other bedrooms, far more spacious, but Benjamin insisted on that one. He liked the coziness, she thought. And the novelty.”

The hidden room is a motif throughout the novel, and it first appears through Benjamin’s discovery of it. As generations of people discover the room, its meaning deepens, thematically connecting it to The Potential Subjectivity of Historical Accounts. Genevieve’s lack of understanding about the room’s attraction highlights her lack of connection to the history of the house.