Stone Cold Fox

Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to child abuse, violence, substance misuse, sexual assault, and death by suicide.

“I didn't come this far only to get swept away by some narcissistic playboy in a McLaren who made his fortune via white collar crime, an indictment forever looming, assets ultimately seized in the night, leaving me with nothing. Absolutely not. There would be room for only one criminal in my partnerships, ahem, and I was sincerely looking for the right man so I could finally leave that life behind for good.”

This passage sets up the critical conflict of Bea’s character in the novel, as she no longer wants to pursue flashy wealth in an endless cycle of new men and relationships. Instead, she wants to settle down with Collin to form a real life that she can lead indefinitely.

“Their Bony shoulders shook to keep laughter inside, their buoyant medium length blowouts bobbing up and down, all but giving it away. They glanced at Gale for her reaction and then quickly looked elsewhere—clearly she wasn't part of their little gaggle of gal pals. Gale didn't even acknowledge their poorly repressed actions at her expense because she knew the truth, too. Their forced camaraderie was only a technicality based on proximity.”

Bea exploits the petty conflicts between the women in Collin’s friend group, here, taking note of Gale’s exclusion from the other women. Gale’s knowledge of her position as an outsider only further weakens her position against Bea, and this scene is essentially repeated later on with Chloe and Calliope.

“‘Bea, you're smart, you know what I mean. Perhaps what you don't know is that this is kind of his thing with relationships. You're one of many. Collin’s been searching for something for as long as I can remember. How to best put it?’ she paused, thinking. ‘It's like he's looking for an identity outside of his own.’

‘How admirable,’ I said, maintaining my position. She could bump right into me if she wanted to, I wasn't going to move. ‘Collin and I have that in common.’”

While Gale exposes Collin’s penchant for dating outside his circle, she also points to how Bea and Collin can connect in a different way. Though Gale suspects Bea is putting on an act, her comment about finding a new identity is legitimate, as Bea no longer wants to deceive people to survive.