Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual assault.

The disturbing details of Henry and Lucy’s childhood trauma in the house at Cheyne Walk make it clear that as adults, both are clearly still affected by their traumatic upbringing. Both siblings have also committed crimes. Jewell uses their characters to ask whether Henry and Lucy’s past trauma should cancel out their responsibility for their crimes.

Henry has a sinister side. He is obsessed with Phin to the point of impersonating him; at several points in the novel, Henry struggles to hide his true nature and control his nasty urges. Nevertheless, he manages to mostly blend in well with society. When he finally confronts Phin, he does no harm. Henry’s true crime lies in the past: He killed Birdie, recently moving her remains to avoid getting caught. Since testimony from Lucy and Justin reveals that Birdie was evil and abusive to the Lamb and Thomsen children, particularly Lucy, the novel asks readers to consider whether Henry killing Birdie was actually in self-defense—her death allowed him and the other children to escape. Justin believes that the Lamb children were victims to such a degree that Henry should not be held responsible for his trauma-based actions.