The Woman in Cabin 10: Chapter 33 Summary & Analysis

Lo desperately kicks herself free of the gripping ocean current; it’s so dark that she doesn’t know which way is up. But soon, behind her eyelids, she sees “lights [begin] to spark and shimmer, terrifyingly close to the shards of light and dark that fragmented my vision when I had a panic attack.” When she opens her eyes, she finds that she’s seeing moonlight. Soon she’s bursting above the surface, sobbing and coughing.

Despite shaking convulsively, Lo forces herself to swim toward the lights of the quay, fearing hypothermia—not to mention getting dragged under by the ship if it starts moving. Finally, she pulls herself up a ladder onto the quay and finds herself in a small village. She staggers to a hotel, seeing the Aurora moving out to sea behind her. She bangs desperately on the door.

Soon Lo finds herself under a blanket, holding a cup of coffee and sitting on a glassed-in terrace overlooking the bay. The hotel’s general manager approaches, wanting to know how she’s come to have Anne Bullmer’s credit cards; the Bullmers are personal friends of his. Lo asks him to phone the police for her; despite what she’d promised Carrie, she thinks it’s the only hope for both of them.

Lo is practically falling asleep when suddenly she hears the manager say “Richard.” She looks out on the fjord to see the Aurora coming to a stop, then turning around. Next she hears the manager speaking in Norwegian to what sounds like the police. She’s briefly frozen, realizing that what Carrie had said about Richard’s influence wasn’t just paranoia. Lo slips quietly out the door.