Nine Perfect Strangers

Frances hears flames ripping through Tranquillum House. The guests huddle together with wet towels over their heads. Hearing Jessica pray, Frances thinks of all the things she’s enjoyed in her life.

Yao wakes up to the burning smell and sees Masha smoking a cigarette on the balcony. He knows that their experiment is over.

As Frances thinks about the end of her life, the guests realize that the sounds they hear are just a recording. They decide that the fire is another ruse. As the guests shout at the screen, Frances asks when anyone last tried the door handle.

Yao knows that Masha is in an “altered state” (268). A video clip of a burning house plays on Masha’s computer. She announces that she’s giving up on the wellness industry and plans to return to her corporate job. Yao feels betrayed. He looks for the guests on the CCTV system, but they’re no longer in the meditation room. Masha admits that the door has been unlocked for hours.

Carmel is still surprised by the absence of an actual fire as the guests exit the basement meditation room. Wandering the empty house, they plan their next move. Yao appears with a tray of fruit. The guests talk about the experience in the room. When Carmel tries a grape, she’s amazed by the “true precious beauty of food” (271). As the guests plan to go to the police, Masha appears dressed in a corporate-style outfit that’s too big for her. As she argues with Heather, Masha clasps something tight in her hand. When Heather tells Masha that she’s “a better mother than you would ever be” (272), Masha leaps at Heather with a sharp letter opener in her hand. Napoleon and Yao step between the women, and Frances grabs a candelabra, swinging it at Masha. Masha falls to the floor.

Frances isn’t sure why she acted so decisively. After she hits Masha, a police officer appears. Gus was asked to come to the house by Jan, his girlfriend, after he arrested Delilah for speeding in a sportscar. Masha isn’t badly hurt by Frances’s attack but she’s taken to the local hospital. More police officers arrive, discovering the “vast quantities of illegal drugs on the premises” (273). Yao apologizes to the guests before the police take him away. Delilah has disappeared, but Ben’s car is found at the nearest airport. The guests struggle to explain events to the police. Eventually, they’re free to leave. However, the guests stay at the house one more night. They find the confiscated alcohol and prepare a feast in the kitchen in honor of Zach and Zoe’s birthdays. At the end of the evening, they all promise to stay connected before returning home the next day. Frances and Tony are left alone. She thinks about kissing him.

A week later, Jessica tells Ben that she isn’t and never has been pregnant. They seem destined for an “inevitable, amicable divorce” (279). Two weeks later, Carmel bakes her daughters’ favorite treats for their return. She’s embraced by her children and no longer cares about her weight. Three weeks later, Frances hears from her old editor, who’s coming out of retirement and wants to publish Frances’s rejected book. Four weeks later, Lars tells Ray that he’s ready to have a baby. Five weeks later, Frances calls Tony. Six weeks later, Napoleon goes to a therapy session. Heather seems calmer to him, and Zoe is busy and distracted with schoolwork. Napoleon admits to the therapist that he’s depressed, and he works with his therapist to overcome it. Two months later, Frances and Tony build a long-distance relationship. He invites her to visit Holland with him, and they share their first kiss in the airport lounge. Three months later, Heather tells Napoleon to shout at her about her role in Zach’s death. Reluctantly, Napoleon unleashes his pent-up frustration at Heather, Zoe, and himself. That night, Heather sleeps better. The next morning, they have sex for the first time since Zach’s death. One year later, Ben’s sister, Lucy, dies of an overdose. Ben has returned to his old job, while Jessica is now a social media influencer. He thinks about calling Jessica after hearing about Lucy. Instead, he calls Zoe. She attends the funeral, and Ben’s “eyes kept seeking her out” (287).

Five years later, Yao marries his former fiancé, who has a young daughter. Masha took full responsibility for the events at Tranquillum House, and Yao received only a suspended sentence. Delilah disappeared after leaving the spa. One day, Yao sees Masha on daytime television. Elsewhere, her ex-husband watches the same show. Masha promotes a wellness book based on the radical therapy she developed at Tranquillum House. Her time in prison, she explains, was a “transformative experience.” She denies running similar secret treatment programs. He remembers how Masha refused to acknowledge their second child after the death of their first. He remarried and had more children, but he never forgot Masha. She didn’t respond when, five years ago, he tried to tell her about the birth of her granddaughter. He knows that he’ll never stop trying.

Tony moves to Sydney to be with Frances. Her writing career is revitalized, and she’s besotted by Tony’s grandchildren. The author of the scathing review of Frances’s work loses all her money in a “high-profile cryptocurrency scam” (294) and is deeply unhappy for the rest of her life. Eventually, Frances marries Tony.