Gone to Seed

Harriett Osborne's once-pristine home and garden have become wild and overgrown, the talk of the Mattauk neighborhood. After her high-powered career and marriage collapse, Harriett withdraws from society, letting her property—and herself—go to seed. Neighbors speculate about her fate, but Harriett is not broken; she is changing. The neglect is not a sign of defeat but a rejection of the rules that have bound her. As the Homeowners Association circles, Harriett's refusal to conform signals the start of a personal revolution. Her transformation is both physical and metaphysical, as she discovers a new power within herself, one that will soon connect her to other women on the brink of their own awakenings.

Powers Awaken

Jo Levison, a former hotel manager turned gym owner, and Nessa James, a widowed nurse with a supernatural gift, are both experiencing profound changes. For Jo, menopause brings not decline but a surge of energy—literal heat and strength that she channels into her all-women's gym, Furious Fitness. Nessa, after years of silence, begins to hear the voices of the dead again, a family gift that skipped a generation and now returns with force. These changes, once feared, become sources of power. The three women—Harriett, Jo, and Nessa—are drawn together by their abilities and their shared sense that the world has underestimated them for too long.

The Quiet Life

Nessa's life, once filled with family and purpose, has grown silent after her daughters leave for college and her husband's death. The quiet is broken by the return of her ability to hear the dead, a gift passed down from her grandmother. The voices are not random—they are girls, lost and calling to be found. Nessa's memories of her grandmother's work in the South, finding bodies the police ignored, shape her response. She realizes her gift is not a curse but a calling, and she must act, even as the burden threatens to overwhelm her.

Three Women Unite

Harriett, Jo, and Nessa, each isolated by their circumstances and powers, are brought together by fate and necessity. Their meeting is catalyzed by the discovery of a dead girl near Danskammer Beach, a body that only Nessa could have found. Jo's physical power, Harriett's botanical magic, and Nessa's connection to the dead form a complementary alliance. They are united not just by supernatural gifts but by a shared rage at the injustices women face—ignored, dismissed, and endangered. Their friendship becomes the foundation for a campaign against the darkness lurking in their community.

The Girl in Blue

The trio's investigation begins with the body of a young Black girl, found wrapped in a trash bag near the beach. The police are quick to dismiss her as a sex worker who overdosed, but Nessa's visions and the evidence suggest otherwise. The girl's ghost lingers, unable to rest until her story is told. As the women dig deeper, they find connections to other missing girls, and the realization dawns that a predator is targeting the vulnerable. The discovery is not just about one victim but a pattern of violence and neglect that implicates the town's most powerful men.

Secrets in the Garden

Harriett's wild garden is more than a symbol of her rebellion—it is a living arsenal. She cultivates poisonous and medicinal plants, drawing on traditions of women's folk magic and healing. The garden becomes a sanctuary for the trio and a place where Harriett's powers grow. She uses her knowledge to heal, to punish, and to protect. The garden's transformation mirrors Harriett's own, as she sheds the expectations of wife, worker, and neighbor to become something new: a witch in the truest, oldest sense.

The Pointe's Dark Heart

The investigation leads the women to Culling Pointe, an exclusive enclave of the ultra-wealthy, hidden behind gates and manicured lawns. The Pointe is a world apart, ruled by men who believe themselves untouchable. Here, the trio uncovers a network of exploitation: girls lured for work or opportunity, then abused and discarded. The men of the Pointe, aided by complicit women and corrupt police, have created a system where their crimes are invisible. The women's powers are tested as they confront not just individuals but an entire structure built to protect predators.

The Missing and the Dead

As more girls' ghosts appear to Nessa, the scale of the crime becomes clear. The missing are not runaways or addicts, as the authorities claim, but daughters, sisters, and friends—many from marginalized backgrounds. The trio's efforts to identify the victims and bring their stories to light are met with resistance from the police and the community. The women realize that justice for the dead will require more than evidence; it will require breaking the silence and the systems that allow such violence to persist.

The Web of Men

The investigation reveals a web of complicity: police chief Rocca, billionaire Leonard Shaw, art dealer Spencer Harding, and others are all implicated in the trafficking and murder of girls. The law, meant to protect, instead shields the powerful. Attempts to go through official channels are thwarted by lies, cover-ups, and the rewriting of history. Even the media, when finally engaged, is manipulated or silenced. The women must decide whether to play by the rules or to take justice into their own hands.

The Witch's Justice

Harriett's powers reach their zenith as she turns her garden and her knowledge of poisons against those who have harmed women. She exacts poetic justice: invasive plants overrun the Pointe, bees attack the guilty, and mold consumes the corrupt. Her actions are not random but targeted, a form of retribution that the law cannot or will not deliver. Harriett embodies the archetype of the witch as avenger, using the tools of nature to balance the scales.

The Podcast Gamble

With official channels closed, the trio turns to a true crime podcast, They Walk Among Us, to tell the world what is happening in Mattauk. Their story, evidence, and the discovery of more bodies force the public to pay attention. The podcast becomes a double-edged sword: it brings attention and pressure, but also danger, as the powerful move to silence the women and those who help them. The battle for truth becomes a battle for survival.

The System Fails

Despite their efforts, the women see their work co-opted and erased. The police chief takes credit for their discoveries, the media spins a new narrative, and the true scale of the crimes is downplayed. The podcast host is murdered, and the women are left to realize that the system is designed to protect itself, not the vulnerable. The trio must confront the reality that justice, as defined by men, is not justice at all.

The Firestarter

Pushed to the brink by the system's failures and the continued threat to her daughter, Jo embraces her power fully. Her rage becomes literal fire, as she sets ablaze the invasive plants Harriett has seeded throughout the Pointe. The fire spreads, consuming the homes and secrets of the powerful. Jo's act is not just vengeance but a cleansing—a refusal to accept a world built on women's suffering. The fire is both an ending and a beginning.

Wolves Unmasked

As the fire burns, the final truths come to light. Claude, once an ally, is revealed as a facilitator of the abuse, rationalizing her actions as harm reduction. Leonard, the philanthropist, is unmasked as a monster. The women see that evil is not just individual but systemic, perpetuated by those who benefit from it and those who look away. The reckoning is not just for the men but for the women who enabled them.

The Reckoning

With the old order in ruins, the trio and their allies mete out their own justice. The guilty are punished—some by supernatural means, others by exposure and death. The women refuse to be erased or silenced. They claim their power, not just for themselves but for all the girls who were lost. The reckoning is not just retribution but a declaration: never again.

Burn It Down

The fire at Culling Pointe is both literal and symbolic. The mansions, symbols of wealth and impunity, are reduced to ash. The land is reclaimed for nature and for the community. The women's actions inspire others to speak out, to fight back, and to imagine a world where girls are safe and valued. The trio's powers, once sources of shame or fear, are now celebrated as tools of liberation.

The Others

The story ends not with the trio alone but with a movement. Jo's self-defense program for girls expands, funded by the fortunes of the fallen. Nessa continues to help the dead find peace, and Harriett's garden becomes a place of healing and power. The women's alliance inspires others to claim their own strength. The world is not yet safe, but it is changing. The old order is gone, and a new one—fierce, just, and female—is rising.

A New World Begins

In the aftermath, the women gather with their families and community, celebrating survival and the promise of a better future. The land once tainted by violence is now a sanctuary. The trio's legacy is not just vengeance but transformation—a world where women's power is recognized, where girls are taught to fight, and where the monsters no longer rule. The change is not just personal but collective, a revolution that has only just begun.

Characters

Harriett Osborne

Harriett is the catalyst of the story—a woman who, after losing her career and marriage, embraces the power that comes with age and anger. Her garden, wild and untamed, mirrors her own transformation from a controlled, "good" woman to a witch in the archetypal sense: healer, poisoner, and avenger. Harriett's relationship with Jo and Nessa is both maternal and sisterly; she guides, protects, and, when necessary, punishes. Psychologically, Harriett embodies the rage and wisdom of women who have been dismissed and diminished, channeling it into action. Her development is a journey from isolation and shame to unapologetic power, using her knowledge of nature to exact justice where the law fails.

Jo Levison

Jo is a former hotel manager who reinvents herself as the owner of an all-women's gym. Menopause, often seen as decline, becomes her source of superhuman strength and heat. Jo's journey is one of reclaiming her body and her anger, which she learns to wield as both shield and weapon. Her relationship with her husband and daughter grounds her, but her true growth comes from embracing her role as protector—not just of her family, but of all women. Jo's psychological arc is about moving from self-doubt and internalized shame to fierce self-acceptance and leadership. Her rage, once a liability, becomes the fire that burns down the old world.

Nessa James

Nessa is a widowed nurse whose supernatural ability to hear the dead returns as her life grows quiet. Her gift, inherited from her grandmother, is both a burden and a calling. Nessa's role is to bear witness, to ensure that the lost girls are not forgotten, and to help their families find peace. Her psychological journey is one of moving from grief and isolation to purpose and connection. Nessa's empathy and courage make her the moral center of the trio, and her willingness to see what others cannot is both her strength and her cross to bear.

Claude Marchand

Claude is a woman who, after losing everything in a financial scandal, reinvents herself as a fixer for the rich. She rationalizes her role in the exploitation of girls as harm reduction, but is ultimately complicit in the system's violence. Claude's relationship with Leonard and the other men of the Pointe is transactional; she trades her skills for security and influence. Psychologically, Claude is a study in self-deception and the dangers of complicity. Her eventual reckoning is both personal and symbolic—a warning about the cost of survival at the expense of others.

Leonard Shaw

Leonard is the billionaire philanthropist who presents himself as a force for good, funding schools and charities. Beneath the surface, he is a key architect of the Pointe's system of abuse. His relationship with Claude is both romantic and exploitative; he uses her to facilitate his crimes. Leonard's psychological profile is that of the charming sociopath, able to rationalize any action in the name of the greater good. His downfall is a reminder that evil often wears a friendly face.

Chief John Rocca

Rocca is the police chief who uses his position to enable and participate in the exploitation and murder of girls. He is the embodiment of institutional corruption, hiding behind the law while preying on the vulnerable. Rocca's psychological makeup is that of the abuser who believes himself untouchable, protected by his role and the silence of others. His eventual exposure and death are a form of poetic justice, but also a commentary on how many like him escape accountability.

Spencer Harding

Harding is the central antagonist, a wealthy art dealer who uses his power and connections to traffic and murder girls. He is protected by money, status, and a network of enablers. Harding's psychological profile is that of the narcissistic predator, seeing others as objects for his pleasure. His death is both a victory and a warning—the system that created him is still in place.

Faith Reid

Faith is the "girl in blue," whose murder sets the story in motion. Her ghost lingers, demanding justice and recognition. Faith's story is emblematic of the many girls whose disappearances are ignored or misrepresented. Her presence in the narrative is a constant reminder of the stakes and the cost of indifference.

Amber Welsh

Amber is the mother of Mandy Welsh, one of the missing girls. Her struggle to get the police and community to care about her daughter's disappearance highlights the intersection of class, gender, and power. Amber's pain and anger fuel the trio's determination, and her eventual escape is both a victory and a tragedy—she survives, but at great cost.

Franklin Rees

Franklin is the rare good man in the story, a detective who believes Nessa and helps the trio navigate the investigation. His relationship with Nessa is one of mutual respect and growing love. Franklin's psychological role is to show that men can be allies, but that true change requires women to lead. He is supportive, but never the savior.

Plot Devices

Menopause as Superpower

The novel uses menopause—a stage often stigmatized—as the trigger for the women's supernatural abilities. This device reframes aging as a source of strength, not weakness, and challenges cultural narratives about women's value. The powers are metaphors for the wisdom, rage, and freedom that come with age, and they drive the plot as the women move from victims to agents of change.

The Witch Archetype

Harriett's journey from outcast to witch is both literal and symbolic. The novel draws on traditions of folk magic, herbalism, and women's secret knowledge, using the witch as a figure of resistance and justice. The garden, poisons, and rituals are not just plot elements but symbols of women's power outside patriarchal structures.

Ghosts and the Unseen

Nessa's ability to see and hear the dead is a device that brings the hidden crimes to light. The ghosts are not just plot points but metaphors for the silenced and forgotten. Their presence forces the living to confront uncomfortable truths and to act where the system will not.

The Corrupt System

The novel uses the police, the media, and the wealthy enclave of Culling Pointe as embodiments of systemic evil. The plot is structured around the women's attempts to work within the system, their repeated betrayals, and their eventual decision to go outside the law. The failure of institutions is both a narrative engine and a thematic statement.

Fire and Nature

Jo's power to generate heat and fire, and Harriett's command of plants and animals, are used to literalize the idea of burning down the old world to make way for the new. The fire at the Pointe is both a climax and a cleansing, a device that allows for both vengeance and rebirth.

Foreshadowing and Parallelism

The novel uses stories from the past—Harriett's childhood, Nessa's grandmother, the history of the island—to foreshadow the present struggle. The repetition of patterns (girls going missing, women being dismissed) is paralleled by the emergence of new patterns (women uniting, powers awakening). The structure reinforces the idea that change is both necessary and possible.

Analysis

Kirsten Miller's The Change is a fierce, genre-bending feminist thriller that reimagines the "witch" not as a figure of fear, but as a necessary force for justice in a world built to protect predators and silence victims. By granting her protagonists supernatural powers at menopause, Miller subverts cultural narratives of decline, instead celebrating the wisdom, rage, and freedom that come with age. The novel is both a gripping mystery and a manifesto, exposing the ways in which institutions—police, media, the wealthy—collude to erase the suffering of women and girls, especially those who are poor or marginalized. Through the alliance of Harriett, Jo, and Nessa, Miller argues that true change comes not from working within a broken system, but from burning it down and building something new. The story is unflinching in its depiction of violence and complicity, but ultimately hopeful: it imagines a world where women claim their power, honor the lost, and refuse to be erased. The lesson is clear—rage, wisdom, and solidarity are not just survival tools, but the engines of revolution.

Last updated: May 29, 2025