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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Woman in Cabin 10, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Entrapment and Isolation
Perception vs. Reality
Trauma, Mental Illness, and Resilience
Ambition and Compassion
Wealth and Power
Summary
Analysis
Lo starts having a panic attack. She curls up in a fetal position and focuses on conscious breathing and gradually relaxing her body. It doesn’t help much, but somehow the reminder of a hated former therapist takes the edge off her panic. She finds a phone, but before she can call for help, the letters on the mirror fade, and she realizes that even if Nilsson comes, he won’t believe what she saw.
Strong, distracting emotions seem to help Lo cope with anxiety better than specific techniques. She feels stuck and alone as she realizes that, once again, she has no solid evidence to present to Nilsson—he will think she’s dreamed or imagined what she saw on the mirror.
Themes
Lo leaves the empty spa and finds out that Ulla had left her alone to sleep longer. Lo asks Eva, in reception, if there are other entrances to the spa, and Eva explains that besides the main entrance, there’s only an alarmed fire exit that opens into the staff quarters. She also says that Ben had come to the spa looking for Lo.
The suspense builds as Lo tries to figure out who else could have had access to her spa room while she was asleep.
Themes
Lo goes to the lounge and finds Chloe and Cole eating lunch. She questions them about last night’s poker game and learns that Ben had briefly left the game to get his wallet. Cole shows Lo the photos he’s taken so far during the cruise. Lo scrolls through the pictures and freezes when she lands on one of Alexander and Archer. In the photo, there’s also a waitress holding a tray of canapés—it’s the girl from Cabin 10.
It sounds as if Ben wasn’t being completely truthful when he claimed to be at the poker game all night. Lo is shocked to recognize the missing girl in an unexpected context.
Themes
