78 pages • 2 hours read
The Dollhouse Murders
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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “She Can’t Help the Way She Is”
The story opens on a Friday evening in June. Twelve-year-old Amy Treloar (the protagonist) is at the mall with a new friend, Ellen Kramer, and her developmentally disabled younger sister, Louann (age 11). Amy lost track of Louann and worries about finding her. She also worries about losing Ellen’s friendship because Louann can be difficult.
Amy and Ellen finally find Louann at a puppet show. Amy pulls Louann away from the performance, saying it’s “for little kids” (3). The three girls go to the flower shop in the mall, where Louann accidentally breaks one of the tulip plants. Amy tries to pay for the ruined flower, but the man who works at the store won’t take her money. He gets angry and tells Amy to take Louann away.
Ellen cancels her plan to have a picnic with Amy the next day because she has family visiting, but Amy thinks it’s really because of Louann. Later, Amy tells her mother about Louann’s flower incident, and Amy’s mother accuses Amy of not paying enough attention to Louann. Tired of having to babysit Louann, Amy shouts she’s “never going to take her any place again” (10). When they get home, Amy runs away, both to get away from her family and due to her guilt about what she said.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Most Perfect Dollhouse”
Amy runs all the way to the house where her Aunt Clare is temporarily living. The house used to belong to Amy’s great-grandparents (Grandma and Grandpa Treloar). Amy knocks, but no one answers. The door is unlocked, so she lets herself inside, startling her aunt, who comes down from the attic.
Amy goes back into the attic with Aunt Clare and finds “the most perfect dollhouse I’ve ever seen” (16). The dollhouse is an exact replica of Grandma and Grandpa Treloar’s house, complete with furniture, household items, and dolls that resemble Amy’s great-grandparents, Aunt Clare, and Amy’s father, Paul, who is Aunt Clare’s younger brother.
Aunt Clare explains that she and Paul went to live with Grandma and Grandpa Treloar when Aunt Clare’s parents died. Aunt Clare says she wasn’t the girl Grandma and Grandpa Treloar wanted her to be, so the three never got along. Aunt Clare is angry and goes downstairs. A reluctant Amy follows, realizing she can come back later. After the day she’s had, finding the dollhouse feels “like finding a four-leaf clover on a day that had brought nothing but trouble” (19).
Chapter 3 Summary: “So We All Have Problems”
Over iced tea, Aunt Clare explains she came back to clean out the house because she lost her job in Chicago and that she’s going away again as soon as the house is sold. Amy wishes she could be “away from here” (23), like Aunt Clare, and leave Louann behind.
Amy tells Aunt Clare about the incident at the flower shop and explains her frustration. Aunt Clare offers for Amy to come stay with her for a bit. Amy says she can’t because she needs to take care of Louann. Aunt Clare calls Amy’s father to discuss the idea with him. He doesn’t give an answer but says Amy needs to come home to face the consequences for running off.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
These opening chapters introduce the four primary characters—Amy, Ellen, Aunt Clare, and Louann. With Amy at the center, each of the other three characters represents a different part of Amy’s emotional journey.
Aunt Clare is a role model for Amy. Aunt Clare left behind a life she hated, something Amy desperately wishes to do. Both Aunt Clare and Amy struggle with guilt, one of the book’s major themes. Later, it’s revealed that Grandma and Grandpa Treloar were murdered, and Aunt Clare feels indirectly responsible for their deaths. Aunt Clare’s attempt to run from the past was unsuccessful. Her guilt brought her back to Grandma and Grandpa Treloar’s house, and she cannot move forward until she resolves those feelings of guilt. Amy feels guilty about not wanting to always care for Louann. Rather than face her guilt, Amy runs to Aunt Clare’s house. Both Amy and Aunt Clare are stuck in place, and they can only move forward by releasing their guilt.
Ellen represents a sense of normalcy for Amy. Ellen is an outlet from Amy’s role as caretaker for Louann and symbolizes the carefree life of a kid Amy wants so badly to live. As for Louann, she embodies Amy’s guilt and represents Amy’s journey toward growing up, another major theme. Amy knows Louann can’t help how she is, but Amy also resents Louann’s being unable to change.
Flowers and plants are a symbol for Amy’s emotions throughout the story. In Chapter 1, Amy compares herself to the broken tulip. The damaged flower represents her discontent with her life and family. Like the tulip, Amy feels broken and like she cannot be fixed. When Amy finds the dollhouse, she compares it to a four-leaf clover, which is traditionally a symbol of luck. Amy feels the dollhouse will change her life for the better. When Amy learns Grandma and Grandpa Treloar were murdered, the dollhouse comes alive to lead Amy toward discovering who killed them. The comparison of the dollhouse to a four-leaf clover foreshadows the truth about the murders being discovered and Amy finding her place among her family.
Food and drink are also a motif throughout the book. They represent emotional growth for many characters, most prominently Amy and Aunt Clare. In Chapter 3, they have a deeply emotional discussion over tea. Aunt Clare and Amy explain what bothers each of them and finish their drinks with at least a temporary solution: Amy coming to stay with Aunt Clare. This pattern continues throughout the story.
The third symbol introduced in these chapters is the weather. At the beginning of Chapter 2, after her long run away from her family, Amy feels bitter that she’s alone and out in the cold. Since it’s June, she then realizes the evening is actually warm. As soon as she comes to this conclusion, she notes how close she is to Aunt Clare’s. The weather seemed cold when Amy thought about her family and Louann; thinking about Aunt Clare and getting away from family changed the way Amy perceived the temperature. The warm evening foreshadows Amy coming to think of her family in a more positive way by the end of the book.
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