The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Korelitz, Jean Hanff. The Plot. New York: Celadon Books, 2021.

The novel opens in Vermont, at a school called Ripley College. One of the faculty members is Jacob Finch Bonner, whose first novel was published when he was in his mid-twenties. His novel was well received by critics, but not many people bought or read it. He has since struggled to write a second novel that publishers will accept. He is now in his early thirties. One of his new students at Ripley is a man named Evan Parker. Parker brags that he has a plot idea far a novel that will be extremely successful. Evan is protective of the idea at first, but he eventually tells the plot to Jacob. Jacob internally admits that the novel will certainly be a big success.

About two years later, Jacob searches online and finds that, not only has Evan not written or published the book, but he died of a drug overdose shortly after attending Ripley. Jacob decides to steal the plot idea, writing a novel entitled Crib. The plot idea is not yet revealed to the reader, but Jacob successfully finds an agent and publisher for the book, and the book quickly becomes a big success. While on the book tour, Jacob meets a woman in Seattle named Anna Williams. They begin dating, and she moves in with him in New York City. Meanwhile, Jacob begins receiving anonymous e-mails from someone claiming to know that Jacob stole the plot idea.

Fearing exposure, Jacob begins to investigate Evan Parker’s past, as he thinks that the anonymous e-mailer must have been someone who knew Evan. Jacob goes to Rutland, Vermont, where Evan grew up. Jacob sees that Evan’s childhood home closely resembles a house in Evan’s supposedly fictional writings at Ripley. Jacob realizes that Evan’s plot idea must have been inspired by true events. Jacob had a sister named Dianna Parker, and Dianna had a daughter named Rose Parker.

Over the course of the book, the narrative occasionally inserts excerpts from Crib, gradually revealing the plot of the book to the reader. The book follows a woman who drops out of school after becoming pregnant. The woman, Samantha, raises her daughter, Maria, on her own after Samantha’s parents die of terminal illnesses. After Maria is accepted to an out-of-state college, Samantha and Maria have an argument, during which Samantha accidentally kills Maria. Samantha then decides to assume Maria’s identity and take her place at college, thereby reclaiming the past that Samantha feels she was denied.

Jacob continues his investigation in Georgia, where Rose Parker reportedly attended college, and where Dianna Parker reportedly died in a fire. Jacob eventually deduces that it was actually Rose who died, after which Dianna assumed Rose’s identity. Jacob returns to New York to tell Anna what he has learned. Anna reveals that she is actually Dianna. She says that she murdered her parents, Rose, and Evan. She made all of the murders look like accidents. She then kills Jacob, making it look like a suicide. As Jacob’s widow, Dianna is then entitled to all of the profits of his book sales.