The Last Thing He Told Me

Hannah’s exchange with Carl in Chapter 16 and her anger about Patty’s smug accusation that Owen is a crook is further evidence Hannah is convinced Owen is not a criminal. That conviction is further bolstered by the exchange Hannah has with the parish administrator, who, as Hannah leaves the church, wonders aloud what kind of father would abandon his family the way Owen has. Hannah responds, “Someone without a choice [...] That’s who. That’s who does this to his family” (128). The parish administrator fires back that everyone always has a choice.

Hannah’s response to the parish administrator, which she does not voice, signals her willingness to accept a more nuanced assessment of her husband. She thinks, “We always have a choice. That’s what Grady said too. What does that even mean? That there is a right thing to do and there is a wrong thing to do. Simple. Judgmental” (128). This is a thought-provoking passage that challenges the reader to question whether people are ever wholly right or wrong. Of course, if the question pertains to Owen, it also pertains to Hannah and her reliability as a narrator and assessor of Owen’s character. If Hannah is not wholly right, then the reader’s investment in Hannah’s journey, her ability to solve the mystery, and her future happiness might be misplaced. By introducing these doubts, Dave has once again heightened the tension in the story and has placed some of the stakes—which were once solely Hannah’s—on the reader who now must wonder whether trusting Hannah as a credible, reliable narrator is prudent.

In the face of the facts Jake lays out for Hannah in Chapter 17—all of which suggest that Owen has been lying to her about his past—Hannah refuses to budge from her belief that the only motivation Owen has for lying and disappearing is protecting Bailey. No one agrees with Hannah about this, except perhaps Bailey. This further isolates Hannah and escalates the stakes for her, because if she’s wrong, her crusade to make sense of Owen’s decision will have cost her nearly everyone in her life—as well as angered several powerful federal agents.

Hannah’s insistence that Owen left to protect Bailey also increases the tension between Hannah and the reader. At the outset of the novel, Dave established a bond between the reader and Hannah by using a conversational, confessional tone and a first-person narrative perspective. Having been brought into this close relationship with Hannah, it is painful for the reader to consider she is delusional about Owen, or that she will soon realize the depth of his betrayal. At the same time, the reader is anxious for this to happen if it means Hannah will be free of the mystery. The reader is this trapped in a conundrum, just as Hannah is, wanting answers but not wanting those answers to be too painful for Hannah or demonstrate the reader is wrong to trust her as an interpreter of events.

The character of Jake is reminiscent of Grady Bradford in that both men profess to want what is best for Hannah (and Bailey), but neither can hide the strings attached to their offers of assistance. Grady wants information on Owen and Jake wants Hannah to come to New York and (presumably) rekindle their romance. There is an element of ego-gratification driving both men, one of whom will feel professionally vindicated, and the other who will feel emotionally vindicated. Recognizing the similarities between the two men, the reader is left to wonder just how much Owen might have also manipulated Hannah.

Chapter 18 is brief, but serves two purposes. The first is to create doubt in the reader by showing there were clues along the way that Hannah chose to ignore—clues indicating that Owen was not who he said he was. Hannah’s willingness to overlook these clues, or even question them, again leads the reader to wonder about her reliability as a narrator, heightening the experience of the book. The second purpose is to foreshadow the discovery Hannah will make about Owen’s life in Texas, suggesting to the reader that Hannah is on the right path and the mystery will soon be solved.

As in previous chapters, Dave closes Chapter 18 with a cliffhanging statement left unexamined, and which, in hindsight, seems ominous. As the man who believes he knows Owen from high school walks away, Owen says, “”Hate to disappoint you, but I’m not even close to the right guy” (141). It may be the case that Owen is not the right guy for Hannah, either.