Readers Guide for The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

Prologue: Beth Anne Bailey, owner of the souvenir shop, tells someone that hurricanes killed both of her husbands. 

1990s newspaper articles describe the trial of Gloria “Lo” Bailey for the murder of her lover, Landon Fitzroy on August 4, 1984.

In the present, a journalist reaches out to Gloria about a memoir.

June 21 2025

Geneva ”Gen” is running the Rosalie Inn. Money is tight and she’s thrilled to get an email from August Fletcher, a journalist who wants to stay at the inn all summer to write a book about the 1980s scandal of a politician and his mistress.

Unfinished manuscript by August Fletcher: Lo talks about how she was waiting tables at The Line, and Landon came in on Labor Day weekend. Landon’s father wanted him to go into politics. 

Chapter of true crime novel Deadly Waters: There was something suspicious about Landon’s death. He’d been hit in the back of the head multiple times, and hadn’t drowned in the hurricane. Lo had bruises on her arms. The police were convinced that Lo begged Landon to come see her, that he came to break up with her, and that she killed him.

July 1 2025

Lo Bailey arrives in town with August Fletcher. August tells Gen that Landon’s body was discovered at the Rosalie Inn.

After the Storm, Vanity Fair 1992: Landon’s father was Governor of Alabama. Many people thought Lo killed Landon, and Lo was caught in two lies: she said she never asked Landon to come to town, but there were two calls made from her beach house to Landon. Her arms were bruised, which she said was storm prep, but they were finger marks. A friend saw her in the vicinity of the motel. Still, her trial ended in a mistrial.

3 July 3 2025

Gen starts researching Landon’s death through the clippings and articles her mom saved. August invites Gen to have a drink with them at the Line. Lo denies that Landon was about to dump her.

Lo tells them that her dad died and then her mom got early onset Alzheimers. Her boyfriend Chris had the idea of taking over the inn. A year later he broke up with Gen and left. 

A random guy who partly owns the bar comes over and confronts Lo. He’s Alison Fitzroy’s cousin. 

July 4 1965 Hurricane Delphine

Beth Anne and her husband Linus go to stay at The Shipwreck Inn. They tried to leave during the storm. Beth Anne climbed a tree and Linus tried to come up after her. She kicked him into the water and he drowned.

4 July 7 2025

Gen goes to the memory care facility where her mom lives. Gen tells Ellen about the book but gets no response. August wants to interview Gen.

Unfinished manuscript by August Fletcher: Lo remembers the affair: talking every night on the phone, romantic nights in the beach house he bought for her, time on his boat. Beau Fitzroy showed up, and when Landon told him he loves Lo, Beau suggests that Lo is one in a long line of Landon’s mistresses. 

Letter from Landon to Lo, Feb 1984:  He’s sorry about his father.

Letter from Landon to E, Feb 1984:  He’s sorry that he took up with her best friend Lo. 

5 July 10, 2025

Gen has to retrieve some abandoned bikes, but Edie is afraid of storms, so Lo offers to help. There’s an odd vibe between Edie and Lo.  Lo mentions the shipwreck of the Rosalie, right in front of the Inn and then explains that Edie is her friend Freida. 

May 5 1977 Hurricane Audrey

A hurricane is coming, and Freida, Ellen and Lo plan a beach camping night. The storm hits and they take refuge in the nature preserve. But the girls’ parents learned they were missing, and Freida’s parents and baby brother went out to look for her. All three died.

6 July 11 2025

Gen confronts Edie about keeping her identity as Freida Mason a secret. Edie is annoyed about August and the book. She says that Lo doesn’t want to clear her name, she’s just bored and broke. Edie thinks Lo killed Landon.

Unfinished manuscript by August Fletcher: Landon’s father wanted him to run for mayor of Mobile and then President. Landon confides that Alison can’t have children and he wants to be a dad. He suggests to Lo that he might leave Alison for her.

7 July 18 2025

August tells Gen that Freida/Edie was the star witness against Lo. Freida saw Lo and Landon fighting right before the hurricane. 

August says that every account of the case says that Landon’s body was found between the inn and the nature preserve. But Lo insists that his body was under the porch. 

Lo also said she never spoke to Landon on the day of the hurricane, but Landon’s secretary heard him on the phone with a woman. Landon’s friends says he was seeing two other women and wanted to ditch Lo.

MY PREDICTION:  “E” is obviously Ellen. I think Ellen is the one who called him right before the storm. Gen could be Ellen and Landon’s daughter. Or August could be: his name could be a clue. 

8 July 25 2025

It’s raining and Edie is anxious. Gen goes to visit her mother, who reacts when she talks about Landon and Lo and the murder. When she gets back, they can’t find Edie. Gen hears Edie’s phone ringing and finds her lying on the beach.

9 July 26 2025

Edie is in the hospital with a head injury. The theory is that she slipped and fell. Gen goes to shower and when she gets back, August is looking through her mom’sarticles. 

Unfinished manuscript by August Fletcher: Lo is still in love with Landon, all those yers later. It was hard to believe she killed him. 

10 July 26 2025

Lo seems concerned that Gen and August are involved. Could they be half-siblings? August asks Lo why her mom kept all these clippings. He pulls out a picture of Landon Fitzroy and asks if Gen knew that Landon was her father. 

Ellen 1980

She met Landon in 1980 when she was fifteen. He was twenty six and engaged to Alison. They didn’t sleep together until years later, on his boat. 

11 July 27 2025

A storm is brewing and the inn empties out. Gen wonders if Lo killed Landon because she found out Ellen was pregnant. She was born in March, so conceived in May or June of 1984.

At the nursing home, Gen asks Ellen why she didn’t tell her the truth. She notices her mom is wearing a bracelet with an E.

Landon to “E” May 12 1984:

He mentions the “E” bracelet and tells her that he and Lo are done. He’s planning to see her win late May. 

Unfinished manuscript by August Fletcher:  He says there were four women: The Mother, The Loner, The Liar, The Murderer. 

12 July 28 2025

Gen’s not thrilled that she and her mother will be mentioned in his book. She looks at the articles and it’s clear that her mother was obsessed with Landon. Her name is based on Landon’s favorite place.  August thinks Lo attacked Geneva, but did she?

13 August 3, 2025

Hurricane Lizzie is coming. August, Lo and Gen are alone in the inn. Edie is doing better. Gen decides to kick Lo and August out of the hotel. There’s a crash in the lobby and Lo is there with a hammer, taking down the boards from the windows.  And … surprise. August is also Landon’s son.

August 3, 1985

Lo learned that her mother killed her father in the storm. She knew Landon was unfaithful, but the fact that he and Ellen were carrying on behind her back was too much. Landon was in love with Ellen first, but she’d ended it. When Lo found a letter from Ellen in his pocket and recognized her handwriting, she decided to murder him. 

14 August 3 2025

August and Lo fight. He claims to have been shocked to find out his father was murdered. He got a DNA test as a present and found out that the man he thought was his father was not. His mother was from New Orleans and slept with Landon.

Lo says she called Landon after she found out he’d slept with Ellen. When he came to town, she hit him on the head with a piece of an anchor. Then Lo reaches for a hammer.

Hurricane Marie August 5, 1984: Ellen

Ellen decided to tell Landon she’s pregnant. She called Landon pretending to be Lo. She tells him they need to talk in person. He shows up that night and she tells him. He says he will hide her somewhere during the pregnancy and then he and Alison will adopt the baby. He’ll divorce Alison later. 

The Ending of The Storm Explained

Lo shows up and hears Ellen telling Landon about her pregnancy. Lo is furious and threatens to go to the papers. Landon attacks her, and Ellen grabs something and hits him. Landon staggers down the steps onto the sand. He dies. Ellen is panicked. She and Lo try dragging him to the ocean but fail. Lo puts the murder weapon in the sea. 

August 3, 2025: Hurricane Lizzie

The wind breaks the window that Lo has uncovered. August grabs Lo and drags her toward the window.  Gen grabs the hammer that Lo used to pry the plywood off the window. 

Lo insists she didn’t hurt Edie. August asks Gen to hit Lo but instead she hits August in the shoulder. He grabs the hammer and heads toward Lo. Gen pushes August and he falls onto the broken glass and cuts his throat. 

August 6, 2025 News Article: Journalist August Fletcher dies in a freak storm accident, killed by debris from Hurricane Lizzy.

15 December 20 2025

Lo comes back to town. The inn is being fixed up. Gen and Lo old the police that August’s death was a freak accident: he was trying to cover the window when a tree broke and smashed the window.

But after August’s death, the police found his laptop in the room safe and the story broke about August and Gen being the children of Landon Fitzroy. Lo told the press that her story hasn’t changed: she never saw Landon the day he died. 

Edie remembers what happened to her: she found August’s journals that raged against Lo, and confronted him.  He pushed her. Edie was also there the night Landon was killed. She was worried that Ellen’s parents left town and went to check on her. She heard the argument and then saw the two of them dragging Landon across the brach. She moved his body as much as she could. 

My Questions About The Storm:

Who were the mother, the loner, the liar, the murderer in August’s manuscript?

• The Mother: Ellen?
• The Loner: Freida?
• The Liar: Lo?
• The Murderer: I guess Landon thought it was Lo?