Unspeakable Things

Jess Lourey’s Unspeakable Things (2020) is a mystery and thriller novel. Lourey, a Minnesota native, uses the geography and climate of rural Minnesota to build a sense of isolation and fear. Set in the small town of Lilydale, Minnesota, in the 1980s, Unspeakable Things follows 12-year-old Cass McDowell as she attempts to investigate the abuse of her male classmates and the suspicious criminal activity of her father and his cop friend. As she comes of age, Cass uncovers secrets of her parents and sister, leading to a tremendous loss of innocence. She realizes that the adults around her cannot be trusted, and she loses faith in the notion that institutions are there to protect her. Unspeakable Things explores the themes of Loss of Innocence, Societal Hypocrisy, and The Darkness Lurking Beneath the Surface of Small-Town Life.

This guide uses the 2020 Kindle edition of the text.

Content Warning: This novel refers to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as child neglect, murder, violence, racism, and anti-gay bias.

Plot Summary

An adult narrator reveals that she experienced a traumatic situation involving a dirt basement and a necklace that holds a paper-airplane-shaped charm. In the small town of Lilydale, Minnesota, seventh-grader Cass McDowell is excited for the upcoming summer. She has plans with her older sister, Sephie, and hopes that her parents will be kind to them. At first glance, the McDowell family is talented, eccentric, and loving; a closer glance reveals that her dad pays an inappropriate amount of attention to his daughters’ bodies while her mom tries to remain ignorant of it. Cass, who has a large scar around her neck from her difficult birth, is self-conscious and seeks escape in books. She wishes that her father would drink less and stop abusing her and her sister. Cass recalls witnessing her dad sleeping with her mom’s friend. She hopes that her aunt Jin, her mom’s sister, will visit them at some point during the summer; Jin is the relative that Cass feels closest to. Cass hears whispers of boys in her grade being attacked.

At a safety assembly at school, Sergeant Bauer informs Cass and her classmates that a curfew is being implemented. Students are not allowed to be outside alone after nine o’clock. During band, Cass helps her friend Lynn, who unexpectedly received her period. Cass ponders her old friendship with Lynn and wonders why she is so isolated from her former best friend. She learns that several boys her age have been raped.

Cass and Sephie join their dad at a bar, where he is meeting Sergeant Bauer. Cass hears them discuss the boys who have been raped. Cass is pleased to develop a friendship with a wealthy boy named Gabriel who rides her bus. He is very kind to her and shows her his paper-airplane necklace. She becomes infatuated with him.

Cass feels that she does not have friends at school, so she starts sitting at the loners’ table. Evie tells Cass that Clam, a boy from the Hollow, a rough neighborhood, was attacked. Cass panics and hides in the bathroom, where she overhears two teachers wonder if Mr. Connelly, the popular band teacher, attacked the boys. They speculate that he will lead them to become gay. Sephie is failing chemistry and worries that she will have to attend summer school, which will make her dad angry. On the bus, the students watch their creepy neighbor, whom they have nicknamed Green Goblin.

her dad plans a party for the upcoming Saturday. Cass sleeps in her closet in case her dad enters her room during the night. The sisters wonder about the identity of the town’s Peeping Tom and whether he is the same person who is assaulting the boys. Cass hears weird noise coming from the basement.

At school the next day, Cass decides to investigate if Mr. Connelly attacked Clam. She hides in the band room and starts going through everyone’s stuff, eventually deciding to steal Heather’s compact. Clam catches her and threatens her. She runs away.

Cass gets called to the principal’s office, where Sergeant Bauer is waiting for her. As he lectures her about stealing, she recalls seeing him have sex at her parents’ last party. Their dad takes Cass and Sephie to pick up liquor, and they run into Green Goblin, whom her dad hates. A second boy is abducted from the Hollow. In the empty gym, Cass encounters Mr. Connelly and Gabriel. The atmosphere is tense and awkward.

On the bus, Sephie reveals that she will have to attend summer school and fears her dad’s reaction. The sisters decide to pick strawberries on Goblin’s property; he chases them away with a gun. Cass and Sephie find bones in the woods, and Cass’s first thought is that her dad killed someone. Cass goes to babysit and discovers that one of her new neighbors is Frank, whom she met at school. They become fast friends.

Jin sends dresses, and Cass and Sephie model them for her dad, who ogles them. They learn that another boy was attacked. Cass realizes that every boy who has been attacked rides her bus.

Sephie and Cass set up for their parents’ party, which quickly devolves into an orgy. Cass is intimidated by the sound of Bauer’s clicking dog tags. Cass cannot find Sephie and worries that she has gone off with an older man. Cass eavesdrops on a conversation between her dad, Bauer, and another man but does not learn more about the identity of the attacker.

The next morning, Cass heads to Lynn’s birthday party. She did not bring any money to the skating rink, so Lynn’s mom pays for her. During the sleepover, the girls decide to investigate Mr. Connelly’s house to see if he is the Peeping Tom. Cass peers in the window and sees him with his hands on Clam’s shoulders, but she tells her friends that she did not see anything.

Cass overhears her dad discussing the price of something in the basement. She and Frank ride their bikes to Mr. Connelly’s house, where they hear a loud clicking sound that he says is his metronome. They ride to the river, where they are confronted by Clam, Ricky, and Wayne. The boys become aggressive, and Cass and Frank flee. They check out Goblin’s house, but he catches them.

Cass wishes that her parents would divorce. Goblin shows up at their house to pick a fight with her dad. He makes a weird clicking sound with his throat. Their parents leave to go to an orgy, so Sephie invites boys over. Ricky tells Cass that Sephie has slept with all the Hollow boys and that every boy who was attacked heard a weird clicking noise.

After her parents return, Cass learns that Gabriel has been abducted. Cass rides her bike to Bauer’s house to tell him that all the boys ride her bus. She hears the weird clicking noise of his dog tags. Protesters arrive in front of Connelly’s house, assuming that he must be the attacker because he is gay. At her birthday party, Cass realizes that the Peeping Tom threatens girls, while the person who took Gabriel attacks boys. A state trooper comes to her house to ask her family about Goblin. Cass considers telling him the truth about her life but decides against it. Cass investigates her dad’s studio and finds a piece of paper showing that he and Bauer are growing and selling drugs. Her dad gets drunk and acts predatory toward Cass.

Wayne becomes the latest victim of assault. Aunt Jin arrives for her visit. At first, Cass is elated, but she realizes that Jin and her dad have been flirting in front of her mom for years. Her mom asks Jin to leave, starting a huge argument with her dad. Cass wonders if the clicking sound came from Goblin’s throat. She worries that he will hurt Frank, so she rides to his house. She finds Gabriel’s necklace. After Goblin leaves, she enters his house and runs to his basement, where she finds Gabriel’s fingers poking through the dirt. Goblin arrives home and attacks her. As she is losing consciousness, her dad arrives and saves her life. She passes out and wakes up in the hospital. Gabriel’s mom arrives, and Cass gives her the necklace. A social worker and an officer arrive, and Cass decides to tell her story honestly.