‘The Teacher’ Book Ending Explained – Who’s buried in the grave? And what happens in the epilogue?

The Teacher Plot Summary

The narrative swings back and forth between two central protagonists (three if you count the second and third parts of the book late on). Eve is a woman who seemingly has it all. She’s got a gorgeous husband, a well-respected job as a Math teacher and she gets to buy all the shoes she can possibly want. The only trouble is, she’s not happy with her husband, Nate. And she wants a way out.

Meanwhile, Caseham High (where Eve works) also plays host to a troubled student called Addie. A big scandal involving a student-teacher affair has caused her to be ostracised from the other kids. Even worse, she spends most of her school day being tormented by fellow student Kenzi. However, Addie does start to take a fancy to her English teacher… who happens to be none other than Eve’s husband, Nate.

Who is Eve having an affair with?

It’s established early on that Eve is an unfaithful wife. She’s not happy with Nate and she’s been heading off to Simon’s Shoes to sleep with Jay, the handsome clerk. Nate doesn’t have a clue, although he does have his suspicions given Eve’s obsession with shoes.

What happens between Addie and Art Tuttler?

Addie is accused of having an affair with Art Tuttler. The truth is she was at his house, saw him and his wife through the window and hesitated to go further with speaking to him. She felt alone, thanks in part to her alcoholic and abusive father, and didn’t know who else to turn to.

Unfortunately, neighbours called the cops and when they arrived, asked Addie if Art had ever touched her. The truth is, he touched her shoulder and offered a sympathetic ear, but the cops (and Addie’s mother) twisted that to believe Art molested her. Art has to resign and his career is disgraced. Unfortunately, this angers Eve, as she was actually tutored by Art when she first showed up at the school.

How does Nate play into this?

Turns out Nate has a much bigger role in this than we previously thought. He’s a slimy, manipulative teacher who uses his good looks to get what he wants. In fact, he engages in an affair with Addie, who happens to be Nate’s “favourite student”. He even writes a poem for her too. The pair engage in a sordid affair, having sex in the darkroom after-school. When Lotus’ poem is submitted for the school instead of Addie’s (something Nate promised her), she confronts him in the classroom.

Nate leans forward and kisses Addie, but Eve happens to be watching from the window. She sees them together and snaps a photo. With this evidence, Eve makes Nate resign, break up with Addie and upends his life.

Does Addie kill Eve?

When Nate leaves, he messages Addie and breaks things off with her. However, Addie breaks into the house to talk to Eve and gets angry. She hits Eve in the head repeatedly with a frying pan knocking her out. She’s not dead, despite believe that she is.

Nate returns after Addie messages him from Eve’s phone. Addie gets some sheets to wrap her up in from upstairs, and Eve wakes up. Nate deletes the photos of the affair from the phone and then proceeds to choke out Eve so she’s dead.

Nate sets up Addie as the fall-guy, driving out into the middle of an abandoned pumpkin patch in the woods. He leaves her there, in the hopes of her being caught red-handed. Detective Sprague is then on the case and questions her. The note Addie wrote to Kenzi earlier in the book is used as evidence against Eve’s death. Meanwhile, Nate keeps finding Eve’s shoes around the house, covered in dirt.

Does Addie confess the truth?

After spending the whole book being told to “deny everything”, Addie receives a surprise visitor that changes her mind – Kenzie. Remember the poem Nate wrote to Addie? Well, it turns out he actually wrote it to Kenzie, explaining why she flipped at school when she saw it at lunch. Kenzie knows about the affair as she was having one too… two years back when she was 14.

Kenzie and Addie tell Sprague everything. Nate bolts when he finds out and arrives at the pumpkin patch… Eve isn’t in her grave. She’s still alive!

Jay and Eve knock Nate out and then when he regains consciousness, the pair proceed to bury him alive. When they do, one final twist shows that Nate actually started his relationship with Eve when she was 15 and the poem was initially for her.

What happens in the epilogue?

With Nate dead, we cut forward 6 months later. There are a lot more girls that Nate has been sleeping with from school who have confessed to what’s happened. Kenzie and Addie are now friends, while Lotus is also on talking terms with Addie. Hudson, as we find out, has the nickname Jay, and he’s been working at the shoe shop. She’s also been seeing someone but they’ve broken it off now… Eve! Turns out she’s been dating a minor as well all this time.

Unfortunately, the timeline for this big reveal doesn’t make sense. How did Jay Hudson pick up Addie, take her home, then return and pick up Eve too? Didn’t anyone see Eve sneak around back at her house again, dropping shoes around the place?

These questions and more swim around the ending of The Teacher, making for a rather frustrating finale to this twisty-turny thriller.

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What did you think of The Teacher? Have you read this one? Let us know your thoughts on the ending in the comments below!