67 pages • 2 hours read
John MarrsKeep It in the Family
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPrologue-Part 1, Chapter 6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide discuss mental health conditions, violence, child neglect, child abuse, serial murder, kidnapping, and suicide.
Keep It in the Family opens with an italicized prologue set 39 years before the primary plotline and is written from the first-person perspective of an unidentified narrator who creeps along a darkened staircase in a house they know well. Fearing detection by unseen antagonists, the narrator makes their way to the attic and uses a peephole in the attic door to spy on a young boy who is suspended by a rope attached to a ceiling hook.
The narrator observes the boy without speaking to him; instead, they reflect on the unnamed couple who are implied to have abducted the boy. The narrator observes that the couple has a pattern of kidnapping and torturing children, and this boy—like the many others who came before him—will soon die. The narrator listens as the little boy dies and then slips away from the attic door, retreating to their bedroom until an unidentified woman tells them to come out. As the narrator pretends to read a book, they observe that the little boy’s disappearance will make headlines for a brief time until he is forgotten by the wider world. However, the narrator observes that they remember each of the missing children, admitting, “I am the bait that lures them here” (3).
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary
Chapter 1 is set in 2018 and introduces the first-person perspective of Mia Hunter. She and her husband, Finn, are trying to reassure themselves that they did the right thing by buying and renovating a historic home. Mia wants to be optimistic but feels sick as she thinks about the task ahead. Together, they have relocated from London to Finn’s hometown of Stewkbury, a small village that offers more accessible opportunities for first-time homeowners. Mia observes that their new home—although perfect for them—initially escaped their notice when she and Finn were exploring available properties. Instead, they discovered this house when Mia’s “monster-in-law saw it advertised in an online auction” (8).
Although Finn’s parents, Debbie and Dave, wanted to buy the house and fix it up themselves, they agreed to let Mia and Finn have it instead. But while Mia and Finn were initially excited at the prospect of renovating their first home, Mia’s emotions are shifting now that the house is theirs. When they bought the house, Mia understood that their entire income would be devoted to the renovations, with little left over. But now that the house is in front of them, Mia feels a sense of foreboding that has little to do with money. Instead, she feels a vague sensation that there is something wrong about this house, and that she and Finn have made a terrible mistake.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary
This chapter introduces Finn’s first-person perspective as (unbeknownst to Mia) he grapples with misgivings about their new home. Although they usually share everything with each other, Finn admits that on this occasion, he is reluctant to confide in Mia. Because she seems so sure about their decision, he is afraid of disappointing her by revealing his anxiety. As they explore the house together, Finn observes his wife’s behavior and wonders if Mia has doubts of her own. For as long as he has known her, she has had a nervous habit of rubbing her thumbs and index fingers together whenever she is secretly nervous, and she does this frequently as they walk through the house. Mia’s anxiety increases when they find an empty bedroom with a hook installed in the ceiling and a noose dangling from it. Finn tries to make a dark joke and encourages Mia to laugh it off, but he suspects that the discovery may be more sinister than he would like to admit.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary
Chapter 3 returns to Mia’s point of view. As she quietly stews in her fears about the house, she also reflects on her uncomfortable relationship with Finn’s parents, Dave and Debbie. Although she is grateful that their guest house offers rent-free accommodations for herself and Finn, she is eager to put more space between herself and her in-laws. Because Mia’s own parents had a very hands-off approach to parenting, she sees Finn’s family dynamic as overprotective and overly involved. However, Mia acknowledges that she might have an easier time accepting simple differences in family relationships if she felt more comfortable around Dave and Debbie. She feels that Debbie disapproves of her relationship with Finn, as evidenced by her habit of displaying old photos of Finn and his ex-girlfriend, Emma. Given that Finn and Mia have been married for five years, Mia feels that the photos are inappropriate and a pointed reminder of Debbie’s disapproval.
Mia also feels that Debbie has a judgmental double standard when it comes to herself and Finn, for she disapproves of Mia’s tattoos despite the fact that Finn has a full “sleeve of inkings” (14). Mia reflects on these tense dynamics during a family conversation about the work that needs to be done in their new house. Suddenly, Debbie makes an insensitive comment about Mia’s infertility, and although Finn and Dave try to excuse the comment by insisting that Debbie said it without thinking, Mia contends that Debbie intentionally wounded her. However, Finn and Dave do not validate her perception, so Mia storms away feeling hurt and unsupported.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary
The narrative shifts to Dave’s first-person perspective as he feels torn by the conflict between Debbie, Mia, and Finn. He worries that Debbie’s behavior is alienating Mia. If Debbie continues to antagonize her, Dave fears that Finn will feel pressured to take Mia’s side and cut ties with his parents. Dave feels that their family’s relationships are precarious because, while Debbie’s behavior is unhelpful, Mia can be difficult as well. Whereas Finn sees Mia as bold and confident, Dave believes that Mia is never satisfied. He suspects that she gets this trait from her parents, who are currently sailing around the world.
Dave feels that Mia’s parents behave as though they are free from any responsibilities to their family. He simultaneously envies and resents them for this. Dave admits to himself that he often wishes he could escape from his family, but he is unwilling to abandon Debbie and Finn. As Dave reflects on their family dynamics, he grapples with a sharp pain in his stomach that he suspects is stress-induced. He covertly self-medicates with whiskey and illicit pain pills that he obtained from a drug dealer. He has not shared his health struggles with Debbie or Finn and resolves never to do so.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary
The narrative shifts to the first-person perspective of an unknown narrator who is stalking Finn and Mia’s new house. The anonymous narrator reveals that this was once their childhood home, which they shared with their mother, father, and older brother, George. The narrator confesses that this house is the site of many painful childhood memories; even seeing the house again makes them feel vulnerable and afraid. Nonetheless, the narrator feels inexorably bound to the house, as though they are “the mortar that binds the bricks together,” and they confess, “I am it and it is me” (21). The narrator feels that their childhood connection with the house shaped their multifaceted and misunderstood adult identity. The narrator feels that they have devoted their life to saving others, but only some people view them as a savior, while others view them as a monster.
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary
This chapter features a transcript of a podcast interview with the owner of the White Hart Pub. The pub landlord attests that she has lived and worked in the village all her life and has never known the house to be occupied. Instead, it was widely regarded by all as a creepy, abandoned building that “not even a group of pissed-up teens were stupid enough to break into” (24). The transcript concludes with the landlord’s vague remark that what was later found inside the house was “worse than any of us could have imagined” (24).
Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 6 Analysis
By intertwining the various first-person perspectives of Finn, Mia, Dave, and the unnamed individual stalking the house, Marrs provides an extensive level of insight into each character’s thoughts, fears, and internal battles, imbuing the text with a complex and multi-layered sense of dramatic irony. This pattern becomes particularly prominent as Marrs reveals the underlying dynamics of Finn and Mia’s marriage and their current goal of renovating their new residence, for it is soon clear that the impact of the Hunter family’s unspoken dynamics weigh on each person’s sense of identity and threaten their emotional security. For example, when Finn and Mia grapple with the weight of their decision to invest in a new home, their struggle reflects their concerns about stability and their future prospects even as it symbolizes their looming responsibilities and sacrifices as potential parents-to-be—and as members of an overly enmeshed family system. Even in the midst of Dave and Debbie’s near-invasive involvement in their lives, Finn and Mia’s decision to embark on such a substantial renovation project is laden with fears of failure and regret that are heightened by the ongoing pressure to provide a secure environment for themselves and their future children. And as Dave’s reflections reveal, he and Debbie are already imposing their own judgements on Mia, based on their misperceptions of her parents’ more detached approach to parenting. Thus, even before the family becomes aware that Mia is pregnant, the novel’s earliest chapters indirectly stress The Impact of Parenting Styles on Adult Dynamics.
Likewise, Mia’s private reflections on her relationship with Debbie highlight the complexities of familial bonds and their impact on identity formation. Even before Mia interacts directly with Dave and Debbie in Chapter 3, Mia’s casual reference to her “monster-in-law” (8) introduces her contempt for Debbie’s character flaws and foreshadows her precarious relationship with Finn’s parents as a unit. Thus, Marrs invites the suspicion that there is something sinister about Debbie in particular. However, these inner reflections also introduce an element of uncertainty. Because each chapter is told from a different first-person perspective, Marrs capitalizes on the stylistic effects of the unreliable narrator, and each character, however earnest in their reflections, is necessarily limited by the flaws in their own perceptions. In this way, the author deliberately interweaves opposing viewpoints to create a simultaneously multifaceted and distorted sense of reality within the family framework.
Likewise, Mia’s discomfort and perceived judgment from Debbie underscores the challenges of blending into a new family unit and navigating differing expectations and values. However, Debbie’s persistent criticism—and the lack of support from Dave and Finn—also offers the first hint that the Hunter family is afflicted by an array of inner divisions, alliances, and biases. As the only relative newcomer to the family, Mia is cast into the role of an outsider, and Finn’s decision to side with Dave immediately implies that his loyalties are more focused on maintaining the unspoken rules of the Hunter family dynamics than upon supporting his wife in a moment of conflict. Also, because Mia is the only character who senses something unsettling about Debbie, this early altercation introduces a hint of distrust.
Significantly, although Dave is just as biased as the other characters, his perspective offers a unique level insight into the intergenerational dynamics that shape familial relationships and individual identities, further highlighting The Impact of Parenting Styles on Adult Dynamics. His concerns about maintaining harmony within the family, coupled with his own health struggles and coping mechanisms, illuminate the multifaceted nature of parenthood and the sacrifices that parents often make for their children’s well-being. Dave’s internal conflict exemplifies the intricate balance between personal desires, familial obligations, and the enduring impact of parental roles on personal identity.
It is also important to note the introduction of the unknown narrator in Chapter 5, which foreshadows the violence and turbulence of the events to come and adds a foreboding tone to the theme of parenthood and family influence on identity. The nameless narrator’s perspective implies that Finn and Mia’s dream house is in reality the stuff of nightmares, and their surreptitious surveillance of the area suggests that the couple’s home renovations will be the catalyst for horrors they cannot comprehend. The narrator’s lifelong connection to the house also highlights the inescapable influence of family history and upbringing, for although the narrator’s identity is as yet unrevealed, it is clear that this person has been irrevocably shaped by the traumatic events of their past, and this fact presages deadly consequences for the near future.
