Pieces of Her

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapter 13-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Pieces of Identity

Pieces of Her tracks the journey of a daughter discovering her mother’s buried past. However, the journey, and what she discovers, causes her to question not only her mother’s identity, but her own as well. Andy Oliver discovers that her idea of Laura is based on pieces, rather than the whole. As the novel progresses, she realizes that her understanding of her own identity is, to an extent, based on these pieces as well.

At the beginning of the novel, Andy believes she knows who Laura is. But even so, she sees her mother as somewhat unknowable. Gordon, Andy’s stepfather and Laura’s ex-husband, agrees: “When I first met your mom, I thought she was a puzzle. A fascinating, beautiful, complex puzzle. But then I realized that no matter how close I got to her, no matter what combination I tried, she would never really open up to me” (74). However, Laura skillfully handles the shooter at the diner and, when at the hospital, Andy notices her non-smoker mother take a cigarette from an orderly. Thus begins Andy’s questioning of Laura’s identity.

As the novel progresses, Laura’s façade continues to slip away. When Andy talks to Paula, she realizes that her mother’s obfuscation is purposeful: “[…] the different facets of her mother weren’t pieces of a whole, they were camouflage” (287). With her use of the word “camouflage,” Karin Slaughter immediately implies that Laura’s subterfuge is for protection, even if her reasons are unclear. When Andy sees her mother’s concert appearance in a video, she is struck by the performative aspect of it, “like her mother had pretended for all of Andy’s life” (358).

As Andy’s identity hinges, in some part, on Laura’s identity and history, she is forced to question her own personhood. She initially believes she knows her family history: “That her birth parents had never married. That Andy was born the first year they were together. That her birth father, Jerry Randall, had died in a car accident while on a trip home to Chicago when Andy was eighteen months old” (65). But as the novel progresses, even these few facts begin to unravel, beginning with Andy’s discovery of the doctored photograph of her as a toddler with her grandparents. She then discovers that she had been raised by former cult members Clara and Edwin for the first two years of her life, and that she is cult leader Nick Harp’s child. Laura recognizes Nick’s smile in Andy’s, something she would have likely kept to herself if not for Andy’s discovery of the truth. Overall, Andy’s journey involves not just discovering her mother’s identity, but her own—and the two women learning to move forward together.

The Cult of Nick

Although Pieces of Her is primarily concerned with the relationship between Andy and Laura, the novel also delves deeply into Jane (Laura) and Nick’s relationship. Slaughter uses Nick’s group—the Army of the Changing World—to explore the psychology of a cult leader and his followers—and to illustrate the lure of a cult, something that may be difficult for readers to understand. Early in the novel, FBI Agent Danbury draws a parallel between the Army of the Changing World and a cult: “The newspapers called them terrorists, and they committed acts of terror, but all terror cells are basically cults” (230). Danbury continues, saying “all cults usually have one guy at the center who’s driving the bus. Your Manson or your Jim Jones or your Reverend Moon” (230). Slaughter evokes famous cult leaders from American history, and then highlights the similarities between them and Nick Harp. These cult leaders have characteristics that make them attractive to followers. Even Andy, who has no idea who Nick Harp is when she sees a photograph of him, describes him as “a guy who looked like Zac Efron with Charles Manson eyes” (356), a comparison that evokes charming good looks combined with the eyes of one of the most notorious cult leaders of all time.

Throughout the novel, Jane is uncertain about her relationship with Nick, as well as the Army of the Changing World and their plans. However, Nick is always able to lure her back, a fact she is aware of but seems unable to resist. Once again, Danbury’s insight frames Nick as a cult leader when he says, of Donald DeFreeze, “He knew when people were pulling away. He knew how to bring them back” (231). As the story continues, Jane notices this same ability in Nick. She sees how he manipulates the group, regaining devotion and rebuilding enthusiasm. However, she finds it nearly impossible to break up with him (due to his charm and abuse alike), only doing so when he forces her to choose between him and her dying brother Andrew.

While Jane is ambivalent, being drawn in and then repelled by Nick throughout their relationship, Slaughter uses the character of Paula to show readers what blind devotion looks like. Paula’s fervor for and fixation on Nick are violent, and accompanying them is the relinquishing of personal control. Andy notices this when she is in Paula’s home, which is empty and featureless. Paula tells her this is purposeful: “I’ve got everything ready for Nick when he gets out…Nick has such a great eye. I wouldn’t presume to choose those things without him” (420). Slaughter emphasizes this type of devotion by using the term “acolytes” to describe Nick’s followers, appropriate for its religious connotation, and reflected in Paula’s response to Nick’s speech, which Slaughter refers to as “a congregant calling back to the preacher” (262). In Paula, Slaughter has created a mindless follower, one who never questioned things as Jane had.

Throughout the novel, Slaughter strives to show how a cult and its leader can be enticing to followers through various characters, such as Jane and Paula. She also shows how an intelligent person like Jane can become entangled in an abusive relationship.

Taking Control: Andy’s Transformation

Throughout Pieces of Her, Andy struggles to maintain control of her life under extreme stress. As the novel progresses, Andy takes control of her journey, and her life as well. At the beginning of the novel, Andy is listless, uninterested, and working a job that she does not particularly like. She passively lives in the apartment over her mother’s garage, which Laura recognizes is unhealthy. In the first chapter, before the shooting, Laura tells Andy to start living her own life. Laura warns her, “if you continue listlessly spinning around, pretty soon you’ll be forty and find yourself very tired of living inside of a cartwheel” (14). Even Gordon, Andy’s stepfather and Laura’s ex-husband, suggests giving Andy an ultimatum about moving out, but she is still unwilling to take control of her life.

When a shooting interrupts her and her mother’s meal in Chapter 1, Andy’s life changes forever. Andy and Laura find themselves in an uncontrollable situation, with the shooter making demands of Andy; though, Laura quickly does away with the shooter. In the aftermath, Laura stops waiting for Andy to take action and takes control, forcing her to move out of the house. Once again, Andy goes along with her mother’s wishes.

Later, when Andy kills Laura’s intruder, her mother takes charge once more, giving her orders about how and where to run. Andy experiences the ultimate loss of control here—she has killed a man and is now running from the law. She is on her own, but instinctively follows Laura’s order to take the intruder’s truck. For a time, Andy blindly follows her mother’s instructions. However, there is distinctive shift in Andy’s character when she decides to seek Paula Kunde, a woman mentioned in Laura and the intruder’s brief conversation, rather than go to Idaho to hide as her mother directed. This is the moment when Andy takes control and decides to pursue the mystery of her mother’s past rather than her own escape. Andy takes control of her journey, learning from her mistakes and growing in confidence as she finds cult member Paula and former cult member Clara. By the end of the novel, Andy’s character has transformed from an aimless, passive woman to one who can make her own decisions.