The Note

“Lauren, because of the affair. Kelsey, because of her husband’s murder. And May, because of a confrontation on a subway platform. Three women, judged and vilified by strangers.”

By portraying all three women as “vilified” from the very beginning, Alafair Burke immediately injects an implicit suggestion that none of them fully deserve the censure that has come their way. The description also heightens tension by showing that the friends are linked by darker bonds than a mere shared history at camp.

“Now that they were strolling down memory lane, May had somehow managed to pivot from Kelsey’s lighthearted reference to getting busted for drinking, to the name of the girl whose death had changed everything that final summer at Wildwood.”

The underlying ominous tone that Burke has been hinting at now arrives full-force in this passage as nostalgic conversations veer into more dangerous territory. Although the friends’ relationship initially seems lighthearted, Burke uses this shift to foreshadow the fact that the weekend is about to take a much more treacherous turn. By mentioning a mystery that binds the three together, Burke suggests that much of their friendship relies on secrets and shared trauma.

“A simple little note—but the potential for so much damage.”

This reference to a “note” deliberately invokes the novel’s title to create a teasing example of a red herring and to draw attention to the idea that even inconsequential acts and objects can carry a more serious weight. However, this particular note is not the one that becomes the novel’s inciting incident.