A Sea of Unspoken Things Plot Summary
James Golden is haunted by the death of her twin brother, Johnny, and for as long as she can remember, she’s always had a deep connection with him. However, when Johnny is killed after an accident out in the woods, James heads back to her hometown to settle her brother’s affairs.
However, in digging into the past, James discovers secrets her brother has been keeping from her, along with a childhood lover in Micah whom she’s been avoiding for a while. It soon becomes clear that all is not right in town, and there are dark secrets waiting to be uncovered.
To complicate matters further, James also realizes she has a strange connection with her twin brother, whom she seems to be spiritually linked to. However, this bond does nothing to quell her doubts surrounding exactly who her brother was – and what he may have been hiding.
What happened to Griffin?
Griffin’s death is something that has bound Johnny, Micah and James together for over a decade. As teens, the three head out to the woods but were joined by Griffin. However, Griffin ended up drinking way too much and came onto James by the lake. When she rejected him, Johnny saw this take place from afar, and kept a close eye on the guy.
That night, Griffin continued to drink and wound up grabbing a gun, swinging it around wildly. Micah and Johnny are understandably not happy and the latter stood up for his sister and pushed Griffin. Unfortunately, he fell off the edge of a cliff and cracked his head hard on the ground, dying on impact.
The three made a pact right there and then that this was an accident, a mantra that they carry with them through life. Nobody reveals the truth, even in the present.
Is Autumn really dead?
Despite there being some initial doubts over Autumn and what happened to her, we do learn very late on that yes, Autumn is dead. She was killed by Olivia out in the woods. They were out together early before Autumn was bound to leave Six Rivers, shooting more pieces for her photography when the “accident” occurred. Olivia’s statement here is that she didn’t mean to kill the girl. However, Autumn’s body is never found and police only have Olivia’s shaky testimony to go on, so it’s hard to know what to believe.
Olivia was always envious of Autumn’s talent and the way she had “opportunities” and we can see that from the way she bitterly mentions it to James when questioned about the past. James does the right thing though and gets Amelia involved, who subsequently arrests her for Autumn’s murder.
What about Johnny’s death?
Although we’re led to believe that Johnny’s death was just accidental, in reality he was actually killed by Sadie as she was the only one left in town while everybody else left to support the local sports team on an away day. She followed Johnny out to the gorge and shot him. Why?
Well, Sadie always loved Johnny and was clearly jealous of his close bond with Autumn. Despite James’ concerns midway through the book, there’s no implication of a romantic connection between Autumn and Johnny. However, we do know that Ben was jealous of the closeness these two shared.
After Johnny found Autumn’s pack in the woods, Sadie suspected the worst and thought Ben killed her. In order to protect her son, she killed Johnny to keep him quiet. Of course, this also affirms why she was so surprised when Ben had an alibi that night after getting drunk and being depressed.
How does A Sea Of Unspoken Things end?
With all the mysteries resolved and James debating over the future, she eventually heads back to San Francisco. James makes her choice though and decides not to be with Quinn but continue a professional acquaintance with him regarding her paintings. Micah makes a big appearance, showing up in a tux (referencing an earlier joke the pair shared), but James doesn’t seem to have the same passion for painting she once did.
Instead, James paints for herself rather than for work and fully embraces a relationship with Micah. We soon find out by the end that she’s pregnant with his child too.
However, even now, that spiritual bond with Autumn and Johnny doesn’t seem to have disappeared as James continues to see their ghosts.
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