Dunne, Catherine: *1954
The Things We Know Now, 2013 - Chapter Summaries
- Chapters 1–3
Patrick and Ella return from sailing after Ella suddenly senses that something is terribly wrong. They discover that their fourteen-year-old son Daniel has died, leaving the family devastated and unable to understand why a seemingly happy and talented boy would take his own life.
Characters
Patrick: devastated father; guilt and self-questioning; begins searching for answers.
Ella: intuitive and grief-stricken; emotionally supportive; struggling to comprehend Daniel's death.
Daniel: remembered as loving and talented; initially idealised by his parents; mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. - Chapters 4–7
Patrick begins looking backwards through his family history as he tries to understand Daniel's death. His memories reveal his first marriage to Cecelia, the death of his first wife, and the complicated relationship he has with his eldest daughter Rebecca.
Characters
Patrick: nostalgic and reflective; increasingly aware of his failures; troubled by guilt.
Rebecca: resentful toward her father; protective of her mother's memory; emotionally distant.
Cecelia: remembered as loving wife and mother; central to Rebecca's sense of loyalty; influence over the family's past. - Chapters 8–11
Patrick's relationship with Ella is explored, including the way they met after Cecelia's death and gradually built a new family together. Daniel's birth becomes a symbol of Patrick's renewed happiness, while Rebecca's resentment toward Ella creates a lasting division within the family.
Characters
Patrick: hopeful about starting again; devoted to Daniel; increasingly blind to family tensions.
Ella: compassionate and patient; committed to Patrick and Daniel; struggles to gain Rebecca's acceptance.
Rebecca: increasingly alienated; unable to forgive Patrick; suspicious of his new marriage. - Chapters 12–16
The family begins to remember Daniel's childhood and adolescence, showing how his personality changes after he starts secondary school. Patrick looks back on moments that seemed insignificant at the time but now appear to have been warning signs.
Characters
Daniel: cheerful child becoming withdrawn; increasingly vulnerable; concealing his problems.
Patrick: retrospective guilt; begins recognising missed warning signs; questioning his role as a father.
Ella: attentive mother; increasingly concerned about Daniel; unable to discover the full truth. - Chapters 17–21
The accounts of Daniel's friends provide new information about his life outside the home. Edward and Sylvia reveal aspects of Daniel's experiences that Patrick and Ella had never understood, demonstrating the gulf that can exist between parents and teenagers.
Characters
Daniel: increasingly isolated; hides suffering from adults; depends on friendships for support.
Edward: loyal friend; concerned about Daniel; gradually understands the seriousness of his situation.
Sylvia: observant and compassionate; becomes aware of Daniel's difficulties; affected by his suffering. - Chapters 22–26
The truth about Daniel's suffering gradually emerges as the family discovers that he has been subjected to sustained bullying. The bullying becomes increasingly cruel and invasive, following him beyond school and making it difficult for him to find a place where he feels safe.
Characters
Daniel: psychologically overwhelmed; increasingly isolated; losing hope.
Patrick: horrified by what he discovers; confronting his failure to recognise the problem; determined to understand what happened.
Ella: devastated by the revelations; moves from confusion toward understanding; struggles with maternal guilt. - Chapters 27–30
Patrick discovers that his own childhood experiences of bullying have shaped him more deeply than he realised. The connection between his past and Daniel's experience forces him to reconsider both his relationship with his son and the assumptions he has made about resilience.
Characters
Patrick: confronting childhood trauma; developing greater empathy; reassessing his ideas about fatherhood.
Daniel: increasingly understood through Patrick's memories; suffering placed in a wider context; tragic vulnerability becomes clearer.
Rebecca: begins to see Patrick differently; old resentment is challenged; emotional barriers begin weakening. - Final chapters
The family slowly begins to confront the full circumstances surrounding Daniel's death and the ways in which secrecy, misunderstanding, guilt, and family conflict contributed to their inability to recognise his suffering. Patrick and Rebecca begin moving toward forgiveness, while the family learns that understanding the past cannot undo the tragedy but can help them rebuild their relationships.
Characters
Patrick: accepts painful truths; moves from guilt toward responsibility; becomes more open to forgiveness.
Rebecca: releases some of her longstanding anger; gains a more complex understanding of Patrick; begins rebuilding their relationship.
Ella: continues grieving while supporting the family; accepts that she could not know everything Daniel concealed; becomes part of the family's healing.
Frances: supportive sister; affected by the family's conflict; moves toward reconciliation.
Sophie: compassionate and gentle; helps maintain family connections; participates in the family's gradual healing.
Edward: carries the impact of Daniel's death; develops greater awareness of bullying; represents the perspective of Daniel's peers.
Sylvia: processes her knowledge of Daniel's suffering; recognises the limitations of what friends could do; affected by his death.