45 pages • 1 hour read
Ava ReidA Study in Drowning
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Effy Sayre, a student at an architectural college, sees a notice advertising a unique opportunity to design a house for the estate of Effy’s favorite author, Emrys Myrddin. After being insulted by another student, Effy considers her situation as the school’s only female student and the rumors circulating about her and one of her teachers, Master Corbenic. She finds herself unable to focus for the rest of the day.
In class, she works on her assignment to redesign the local Sleeper Museum, a tourist attraction and sacred center in which seven prominent storytellers are preserved in glass coffins. Later, she goes to the library to check out books on Myrddin and learns they’ve all been taken out by someone named P. Héloury. She reels from the injustice of an Argantian student showing an interest in the national author of her home country, Llyr. Leaving the library, Effy considers the heritage of the two neighboring lands and the divide between North and South Llyr. The more superstitious southerners believe that the power of the Sleeper Museum protects them from invasion. Effy chooses to believe in magic, particularly that of Myrddin’s most famous epic, Angharad.
Effy returns to her dorm to her roommate Rhia, a student at the nearby music college. Later, she looks through her copy of Angharad, which is about a woman seduced by the Fairy King, and considers the task of redesigning Myrddin’s home.
Chapter 2 Summary
Effy learns that she has been chosen by Myrddin’s son, Ianto, to take on the redesign project. Rhia voices her concerns about a first-year student being chosen to take on such a high-profile project, but Effy dismisses them. She makes plans to take time away and travel to the existing house, Hiraeth Manor, in the south of Llyr. Later, she goes to the library and examines a map of the land containing both Llyr and Argant. Another student enters, making Effy restless. She recognizes him as a literature student and enquires about P. Héloury; however, she doesn’t learn anything new. Back at her dorm, Effy takes a sleeping pill that she knows will help prevent dreams of the Fairy King, which she has been plagued by since her childhood.
The next day, Effy approaches her academic advisor, Master Corbenic, to get his signature releasing her from classes to pursue her design project. She is distressed and uncomfortable in his presence, and he alludes to a previous altercation that could have had him fired. Ultimately, he agrees to give his signature but warns her off the manor project.
Chapter 3 Summary
Effy departs for the south. She arrives at Saltney, the nearest town to the manor, where a barrister is meant to meet her. However, she arrives to find herself alone and begins to suspect she is the victim of a trick. Desperate, Effy calls her mother and asks for help, but her mother refuses. After she hangs up, Effy takes one of her pink pills designed to stave off anxiety and hallucinations. After a few minutes, Ianto’s barrister, Wetherell, arrives to take her to Hiraeth Manor. They drive over challenging roads to a rural location, passing through a road that disappears at high tide. On the way, Effy glimpses a monstrous figure in the dark; Wetherell disregards her concerns. Finally, they arrive at the run-down guest cottage where Effy will be staying. She spends the night, considering her situation. She notes that the door to the cottage, though unlocked, is bound in iron.
Chapter 4 Summary
Effy is woken by the appearance of a young man. He introduces himself as Preston and reminds her to bring some drawing materials with her as they tour the grounds. They walk toward the house and arrive at a cliff overlooking the sea. The ground beneath Effy’s feet crumbles, and Preston pulls her back. As he holds her to him, she sees the name on his notebook: P. Héloury. She realizes he was the one who took out all the books on Myrddin. Amidst their tense argument, Preston explains that he was sent by the literature college to collect records from Myrddin’s estate for the university archive. Effy argues that Argantian students have no right to Myrddin’s story, but Preston tells her that he’s of mixed parentage: Argantian and Llyrian.
Their debate is interrupted by the arrival of the estate owner, Ianto. He welcomes Effy warmly, but Preston is uncomfortable in his presence. Ianto explains that Effy is staying in the guest cottage at his mother’s request. Inside Hiraeth Manor, Ianto leads them through the house; it is in a state of decay and disrepair. They talk about Myrddin’s reclusiveness, and they debate the humanity of the Fairy King in Angharad. Effy becomes increasingly concerned about the enormity of her task. Ianto shows them the door to the basement, which has been flooded by the rising sea. The sight reminds both Effy and Preston of Myrddin’s poem “The Mariner’s Demise,” and Preston quotes from it. Soon after, Effy returns to the cliffside and surmises that she was chosen because of her inexperience, rather than in spite of it.
Chapters 1-4 Analysis
Chapter 1 introduces the protagonist, the secondary story world, and a number of social elements at play that inform Effy’s choices and actions throughout the novel. It begins in medias res, or in the midst of the action, with Effy encountering the advertisement that will change her life’s trajectory. The ad includes three requests: “Three conditions, just like in one of Myrddin’s fairy tales” (2). This creates the sense that Effy is about to embark on her own fairy tale. Following Effy’s encounter with the advertisement, the novel immediately incorporates some of Effy’s social obstacles: a male student snubs her with his impatience and disdain. This causes Effy to reflect on her status and reputation as the college’s only female student, one at the center of gossip and innuendo because of her thesis advisor. The chapter then moves into wider worldbuilding regarding the two warring countries, and the Sleeper Museum that, according to local folklore, protects the land from attack. The novel’s opening chapter packs a lot of information into a concise space, both on a personal and environmental level.
As the chapter moves from the internal back to the external, Effy has her first encounter with Preston, the novel’s romantic male lead. At this point, however, he is only a mysterious initial attached to the books she had planned to claim as her own. Her first thought is to recognize the name as Argantian, inadvertently displaying the same baseless stigma that others direct toward her for her gender. This acts as a starting point for her dynamic growth. The chapter closes with Effy reflecting on her devotion and need for Myrddin’s work. Chapter 2 jumps ahead in time in order to maintain the pace, opening with Effy’s acceptance of her design. This chapter deals mostly with logistics as Effy prepares to depart and introduces Master Corbenic in person for the first time. It also follows Effy’s increasing misdirected animosity toward Preston, though they’ve not yet met. However, this ensures that he already has a presence in the story and in her life. Once Effy arrives at the train station in Saltney, the novel introduces another antagonistic force in her life: her mother. This interpersonal conflict is later revealed to be a source of childhood trauma for Effy, although at this point it represents her innocence, fear, and need for love. Once she finally arrives, Effy is thrust into an appealing though vaguely threatening setting and left alone.
The final chapter in this section introduces the two remaining central characters: Ianto and Preston (this time in person). Contrary to later parts of the novel, this chapter positions Preston as an antagonist to Effy and Ianto as a supportive figure. It also takes Effy and the reader deeper into Hiraeth Manor, arguably a character in itself. This scene heightens the overall tone of the novel and foreshadows the house’s eventual decay. By the end of this section, all of the novel’s core themes have been set up for further exploration, the main characters have been put in each other’s paths, and the worldbuilding is firmly established on both a magical and political level.
