Everything I Never Told You Summary

About the Author

Celeste Ng was born on July 30, 1980, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. She is an American writer with a number of best-selling books, such as Everything I Never Told You (2014) and Little Fires Everywhere (2017). Her works often contain the elements of family drama, mystery, and social commentary.

Summary

The novel begins in 1977. Lydia Lee is dead, but her family is aware that she's never come to have breakfast with them. Lydia's mom Marilyn visits her room in search of her and is able to find all the things but no sign of Lydia. Lydia's two siblings, Nath and Hannah, depart for school as Marilyn starts to worry that something awful might have occurred. In the meantime, Marilyn's husband, James, is at his desk at Middlewood College, unaware that something is amiss. James is a tenured professor in American History; one of his teaching assistants for graduate students, Louisa Chen, knocks at his door, and the pair talk about their students' work. Their discussion is disrupted by Stanley Hewitt, whom James is not a fan of. After that, Marilyn calls to ask James to return home.

At home, Police officers inform Lydia's parents that teens often escape because they're unhappy with their parents, and most return in less than 24 hours. Officer Fiske inquires about the incident in which Marilyn had gone missing 11 years back, but James dismisses him. After the police leave, James and Marilyn write down the names of Lydia's closest friends. Nath doesn't say anything, but he knows the girls listed don't know Lydia and cannot be her friends. She has no friends except for Jack Wolff, who lives next door to the Lees. Nath dislikes him. Nath does not mention Jack when James and Marilyn are calling the girls that they think Lydia is friends with. Hannah, meanwhile, keeps mum about Lydia walking across the lawn at 2 am on the night before. A passer-by noticed a rowboat in the middle of the lake near Lees' street the next morning. James tells the police that Lydia cannot swim. A day later, Lydia's dead body was found.

The narrative jumps back to the year 1955 when Marilyn was in her first year of Radcliffe College, a women's school within Harvard University. Marilyn, a brilliant student with a dream of becoming a physician, is met with sexist comments from her professors and male classmates. Marilyn's mom Doris Walker, who is a traditional home economist and has lived in Virginia her entire life, was raised by a woman of great tradition. Marilyn enrolls in "The Cowboy in American Culture" in her sophomore year. She's fascinated by James, the teacher, who is a history graduate student and the first Asian-American Marilyn has seen.

Marilyn kisses James in his office after the first lesson. They quickly develop a relationship. James' parents were Chinese immigrants from California who worked at the Lloyd Academy cafeteria. James joined the school after passing his entrance examination when he was six. James attends Harvard to earn his undergraduate degree and then a graduate one, but he still doesn't feel like he belongs in American society. Marilyn finds out she's pregnant in the spring after they meet and quickly marries James. Doris says to Marilyn at the wedding that it's "not right" to marry James. Marilyn doesn't speak to her mom again.

In 1977, they attended Lydia's funeral. After the funeral, Nath is seen questioning Jack aggressively and is later scolded by James for his inappropriate behavior at the funeral. Jack's mother, Janet, leaves Jack alone while she works as a hospital doctor. The narrator also mentions Jack having a reputation at school for taking virginity from girls. Nath spies the discussion between Jack and Janet when he notices the police questioning them later that day. Jack tells police that Lydia was always depressed due to the poor grades she got and also because of her parents and Nath's impending departure to Harvard.

Meanwhile, James goes to his office to read Lydia's Autopsy report. At that time, Louisa knocks on his door. She notices that James is visibly shaken and offers to cook him lunch at her apartment. They go to her place and sleep together. It is the first time that James sleeps peacefully since Lydia's death.

The story rewinds back 11 years in time. Lydia is 5 years old, and Hannah is already a baby. At the Middlewood Christmas celebration, Marilyn inquires a professor in chemical engineering, Tom Lawson, if he would like to hire her to work as a research assistant. He says he'd be willing to think about it as long as James isn't averse to it. The following spring, Marilyn learns that Doris has passed away.

Marilyn travels to Virginia in order to take care of the belongings of her mother but discovers no evidence of Doris in her home aside from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Marilyn returns home with it. The book contains recipes and tips for "keeping" a happy and harmonious family. Its guidelines suggest the idea that wives should cook eggs in the manner that is preferred by their husbands. In the meantime, James takes Nath to go swimming at the Y. However, Nath is disgraced by children lining around and yelling racist slurs at Nath.

Disgusted by her confrontation with Doris' reality, Marilyn concocts a plan to move out of her home and complete her bachelor's degree at the university or community college in Toledo in order to eventually take on her dream of attending medical college. Marilyn writes a letter explaining her choice to go to James. However, she tears it and walks away without leaving a message. The family is stupefied by the sudden disappearance of hers.

After Lydia's passing, the media and the police both insist on the fact that she is lonely. Many articles suggest that her death could be a suicide. Marilyn insists the claim is not the case, and she claims that Lydia was "very happy" and "loved school." She and James argue and fight, and Marilyn accuses James of being too obedient to the police. Meanwhile, Nath and Hannah walk towards the lake. Nath notices Jack and is overwhelmed by an urge to punch Jack. However, Hannah is able to stop him. Nath states that Nath is sure that Jack was the one who caused Lydia's murder and states that Lydia drowned in the lake years before Hannah was born.

The story retraced the time of summer when Marilyn went missing. James seeks out the assistance of the police to locate the missing woman, but James had in secretly discovered the ripped-up fragments of her notes, which is why he believes that she ran away voluntarily. The Lee family's life has rapidly fallen to pieces; James fails to make sufficient meals for his children and the family is rarely out of the house, and the three are in a state of waiting for Marilyn to show up.

Nath is able to keep himself busy by pursuing a fascination with outer space and is watching the coverage of the launch of Gemini 9. He tries to talk to James about it, but James slaps him. In Toledo, Marilyn devotes herself to her studies and is quickly recovering her skills in academic work. But she is deeply missing her family members, and keeps calling them daily and does not even say a word. After an array of fainting spells, Marilyn falls unconscious and is taken to the hospital, where she learns that she's expecting. The nurse dials James to inform him of the pregnancy, and Marilyn decides to go home and quit all medical ambitions for good.

When she returns to Middlewood, Lydia tells Marilyn that she "lost" the Betty Crocker cookbook. However, she kept it secret as she knew it would make her mother unhappy. Marilyn considers this to be an indication that Lydia has decided to break away from the traditional gender roles and decides to encourage Lydia to go into the sciences and become a doctor. Lydia vows to do all that her mother requests to keep her from leaving again. In the next few days, Nath and Lydia go to the lake. Nath gets overwhelmed by an intense feeling of discontent at his parents' love for Lydia. Then he pushes her into the water, and she is nearly drowned before Nath assists her in getting back on the shore. The children do not inform their parents what they see.

Ten years pass by, and this time, the world has been changed by the dramatic events in politics and changing social norms, such as the successes of the women's liberation struggle. James and Marilyn continue to be fixated on Lydia and her story; and James encourages her to go to gatherings and social occasions, have a lot of friends, and Marilyn takes her to enroll in college. Marilyn claims she thinks Lydia is the definition of "genius," unaware that she's not passing physics and is only able to pass biology.

When Lydia receives a note from Harvard to inform Nath that he's been admitted into the Class of 1981, she conceals it in an attempt to coerce Nath to remain in Middlewood. Then, a second note arrives, and Nath realizes that he has been accepted. The celebration of the family is disrupted by Lydia declaring that she's failing in physics, which irritates Nath. The day before Christmas, James gives Lydia three self-help guides with tips about how to befriend acquaintances. While Lydia pretends to be content, she's devastated by the gift. In high school, Lydia decides to befriend Jack, who is skeptical about her sudden need to smoke and her assertion that she's not interested in physics. Jack is curious about Lydia and how it feels to be the only girl of color at school. Lydia clarifies that this means that everyone thinks they know a thing or two about her, even before meeting her.

The tale is retold to show the Lees fighting following Lydia's passing. James and have a hard time communicating, but when Nath realizes that James smells of Louisa's perfume, James yells at his son. Officer Fiske is on Marilyn's phone to inform James' family that the police will not be conducting an investigation into Lydia's death, deeming it suicide. This causes an intense argument between Marilyn and James. James goes out of the home and does not return, and Nath tells Marilyn that James might be in Louisa's house. Marilyn confronts Louisa with a lie about not having any idea of where James is. Convinced that Louisa lies, Marilyn tells her that "if" she spots James, she needs to inform him that Marilyn is going to meet him when she returns to the house.

Just three months before Lydia's death, Nath is increasingly suspicious of the possibility that Lydia and Jack's relationship is sexual. The two are often seen hanging together. However, they smoke and chat until Jack begins to teach Lydia how to drive. Lydia has resigned herself to the reality that Nath will be attending college. She hopes that once she has her driver's license, she'll be able to be able to drive off and leave her family as well. James offers Lydia the silver locket as an early birthday present.

Initially, Lydia is delighted, but then she finds a photograph of her inside, which was captured prior to her 9th-grade party, which James made her attend. The day before her birthday, James invites Lydia to take her DMV exam, and she is unable to pass. Lydia is furious but pretends to be content at the meal at home with her family. Hannah notices that Lydia is at a breaking point.

Following Lydia's death, Marilyn confronts James about Louisa, saying she appears "docile" and could make a "nice petite spouse." The pair argue over the matter, and James suggests that Marilyn may regret getting married in the sense that it made her "different." Marilyn responds that the real reason she is disappointed comes from the fact that she had to let go of her hopes of becoming a physician. Then, James leaves the house. Marilyn finds the Betty Crocker cookbook in Lydia's bedroom and realizes that Lydia was just pretending to be an aspiring scientist so that she could be closer to her.

Meanwhile, Nath buys whisky and drinks on his own until the point where he vomits. Officer Fiske is able to locate him and take his body to the hospital. Fiske's generosity is much different from the kind of treatment Nath has received from his family that Nath starts crying.

The final chapter begins shortly before Lydia's demise. Nath is off to his university trip to Harvard; however, even though Nath promises to call Lydia, he does not. Later that night, Lydia calls Nath to ask about how the trip is going, and he answers her with a rude tone before hanging up. On the next day's morning, Lydia wears her prettiest makeup and dress, and at school, she tries to lure Jack. Jack is averse to her attempts and admits to being secretly in love with Nath.

While Jack apologizes politely, Lydia is furious and threatens to reveal the truth to all of the school. At night, she gets up around 2 am to go to the Lake. Lydia decides that her problems were triggered when Nath forced her into the water. She says she'll repair everything if she rows out, dives into the water, and returns to the shore. One of the last things Lydia says to herself prior to leaping is, "It will be all right."

The concluding chapter takes place in the time following Lydia's demise. After his fight with Marilyn, James drives away, then turns back and comes home to Middlewood. In his home, he has a game with Hannah and is overwhelmed with sadness but reassured by Hannah's affection. In the evening, Marilyn and James lie in bed with each other and feel like they've never been closer in decades.

On the next day, Nath confronts Jack about Lydia, and even though Jack knows that he's innocent, he lets Nath punch him. Hannah finally forces Nath into the water in order to prevent him from hurting Jack in any way. While in the water, Nath thinks about his long-term breakup with Lydia and the many events that are likely to happen in the near future, which is beyond his ability to reveal. Nath swims towards the surface with his gaze fixed on Hannah's eyes. The novel concludes with everyone trying to get closure after the tragedy.