Lowen Ashleigh

Lowen Ashleigh is the novel’s protagonist. She is a woman in her early thirties who lives and works as a writer in New York City. She is portrayed as being somewhat awkward and self-deprecating. Much of the last year of her life has been occupied by the job of taking care of her mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. When Jeremy Crawford—husband of famous thriller novelist Verity Crawford—hires Lowen to complete Verity’s novel series, Lowen accepts the job as much for the money as for her attraction to Jeremy.

At Jeremy’s request, Lowen goes to Jeremy and Verity’s house in Vermont to look through Verity’s files. Lowen discovers a secret autobiography in which Verity confesses to many disturbing thoughts and actions, the worst of which being that Verity murdered her daughter Harper. Lowen shows the autobiography to Jeremy, and...