The Rachel Incident

Published in 2023, The Rachel Incident is Caroline O’Donoghue’s third adult novel and her first adult novel published in the United States. O’Donoghue has said that the story is loosely based on her own youthful experiences as a woman in Ireland in the early 21st century. The Rachel Incident charts the coming-of-age story of Rachel Murray, who finishes college and begins adulthood in the shadow of the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession. She meets her best friend, James Devlin, and they become entangled in the lives of Rachel’s college professor, Dr. Frederick Byrnes, and his wife Deenie. Rachel struggles to navigate romance and friendship and to find her career path. The book’s themes include The Importance of Enduring Friendship, Experimentation as a Means of Self-Exploration, and The Intensity of First Love.

This guide is based on the e-book version of the 2023 Knopf edition.

Content Warning: This guide briefly mentions abortion, drug use, child abuse, and anti-gay bias.

Plot Summary

In 2021, Rachel lives in London and works as a journalist for an expat Irish newspaper, The Hibernian Post. At a work event, she meets a man who went to college with her at University College Cork. He tells her that Dr. Fred Byrne, their English literature professor, is in a coma. Rachel starts to panic upon hearing Byrne’s name. Though this is not yet revealed to the reader, Byrne had an extramarital affair with James Devlin, her best friend. When his wife discovered he was cheating, Rachel was assumed to be the affair partner, and Byrne, wanting to hide his sexuality, went along with the accusation. This gossip and her guilt about not correcting his wife drove Rachel out of Ireland 10 years earlier.

Rachel meets James Devlin in 2009, during her last year of college. They are both working at a struggling independent bookstore. They become fast friends and decide to move into a rundown house on Shandon Street. Rachel’s boyfriend, Jonathan, is not threatened by James since he assumes he is gay. However, her friendship with James quickly eclipses her tepid romance with Jonathan, and the two break up.

Rachel is accepted into Dr. Byrne’s senior seminar on Victorian Literature. She is elated because she has a crush on him. James helps her orchestrate a signing event for his book at their store, with the idea that Rachel will seduce Byrne. Rachel is disappointed when Byrne’s wife and publisher, Deenie, is very involved in the signing. She is further shocked when, after the signing, she discovers James and Byrne passionately kissing in the store stockroom.

After that, James officially comes out to Rachel, but he declines to come out to anyone else. He gives Byrne their Shandon Street address and the two begin having an affair. Around this time, Rachel meets her future husband, James Carey. He is from Northern Ireland and six years older than her. Though their relationship is passionate, they bring out some negative tendencies in one another. Both are slovenly, and Carey often disappears, not honoring plans or answering texts. He misses Rachel’s 21st birthday and vanishes altogether.

Devastated by Carey’s abandonment, Rachel finds herself close to graduation with no essays or exams turned in. After receiving a chastising email from Dr. Byrne, she confronts him at the Shandon Street apartment. He admits that he has not been kind to her and helps her get extensions on her assignments and an internship with his wife, Deenie.

En route to her internship, Rachel runs into Carey. He apologizes for disappearing and they agree to date again, focusing on being “grown-ups” rather than partying all night. Rachel begins her internship and finds camaraderie with Deenie, much to the displeasure of James, who is jealous. He tells Rachel they need to emigrate to London where she can work in publishing, and he can pursue a career as a screenwriter. He tells her to bring Carey with them. Rachel agrees but is afraid to tell Carey the plan, worried he will say no and break up with her.

In preparation for leaving, James comes out to his mother, then embarks on a month of wild partying, calling it the “Gaynaissance.” Byrne is jealous of James’s newfound freedom and attempts to shame him, though he and James are no longer spending much time together. The partying gets in the way of saving money and causes a rift with Carey, who does not understand why Rachel tells him she cannot go out and then goes out with James.

Rachel is laid off from the bookstore and must take a dismal job at a local call center. Carey’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, and he moves back to Derry to care for her, putting his relationship with Rachel in limbo. James and Byrne resume their affair and Rachel chastises Byrne, feeling protective of Deenie. He tells her it’s complicated and that he loves both Deenie and James. Deenie invites Rachel to a party to celebrate a book they both worked on. Preparing for it at Deenie’s house, Rachel becomes nauseous and realizes that she might be pregnant. Deenie drives her home and seems to recognize Rachel’s address.

Rachel tells James about the pregnancy, but not Carey. She decides to seek an abortion, but they struggle to come up with the funds for it. In the meantime, Rachel attends the party at Deenie’s home. When Deenie and Byrne finally spot her, they react with shock and horror. In private, Deenie accuses Rachel of having an affair with her husband, saying that Byrne has admitted to everything. Rachel is appalled that Byrne would rather lie about sleeping with her than admit to being bisexual. However, she feels that she cannot betray him. She asks the Byrnes for money for an abortion and tells them she will never contact them again.

The incident with the Byrnes creates a rift between Rachel and James, who is heartbroken that his boyfriend lied about his existence. Rachel has a miscarriage and loses her call center job. Her parents come up for her graduation and Carey comes as well to surprise her. She confesses that she was pregnant, and he is heartbroken at her lack of trust in their relationship. He leaves and they do not speak again.

Rachel and James cannot seem to regain footing in their relationship. Finally, James confesses that he has won an internship for a talk show and is moving to New York. He and Rachel split their savings and she emigrates to London. Though they both struggle, they eventually make friends and find success. Rachel becomes a freelance journalist covering the campaign to overturn Ireland’s abortion ban. While seeking physical therapy for her overused typing arm, Rachel reconnects with James Carey. He has become a physiotherapist and emigrated to London. The two of them reconcile and get married.

In April of 2022, Rachel and James Carey visit her parents in Ireland to introduce them to their new baby, Seamus. While she is there, she receives an email from Deenie asking to meet with her. Deenie explains that she and Byrne went to counseling and made their marriage work, but they never talked about what she calls “the Rachel incident.” Deenie wants closure about what happened and suspects that he and Rachel never actually had an affair. Rachel admits that she never slept with Byrne, but says that it is not her story to tell. She gives Deenie James Devlin’s email and tells her to contact him. Rachel then explains to the reader that the narrative began as a confession for Deenie but has turned into a way of reflecting on and coming to terms with her past.