Michelle Bailat-Jones The Center for Fiction, Tantor Media, Inc., Audible, Inc. Do FOG ISLAND MOUNTAINS and UNFURLED by Michelle Bailat-Jones Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Lausanne

Do FOG ISLAND MOUNTAINS and UNFURLED by Michelle Bailat-Jones Infringe the Copyright of THE FISHER KING by Hayley Kelsey? Read on to Decide for Yourself (and see more at https://medium.com/@hayleykelseyauthor) 

History:

On June 24, 2013, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of my novel to NecessaryFiction.com’s then-fiction review editor Michelle Bailat-Jones for review. On or about June 30, 2013, Bailat-Jones requested a review copy for review. On that date, I emailed a PDF of it to her. Despite three follow-up inquiries, she never replied and a review never appeared on NecessaryFiction.com’s website or elsewhere by Bailat-Jones.

On January 19, 2014, I submitted a query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages of my novel to agent Katie Grimm at Don Congdon Associates, which represents alleged infringer Bailat-Jones, which declined.

Nine months after Bailat-Jones requested to read my novel, in March 2014, Fog Island Mountains by alleged infringer Bailat-Jones, received The Center for Fiction 2013 Christopher Doheny Award.

On November 4, 2014 Fog Island Mountains was published by Tantor Media, Inc., and Audible, Inc. On October 23, 2018, Unfurled was published by Ig Publishing Co.

Bailat-Jones has made contradictory statements for the record re: the writing periods and completion dates of Fog Island Mountains: In one interview, she claimed that she completed the original manuscript in 2008-9, then shelved it. But in another interview, she claimed that she wrote it in four months between June 30, 2013 and the award’s October 30, 2013 submission deadline.

Does FOG ISLAND MOUNTAINS Have Striking and Substantial Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

• Setting: In FISHER, Chesapeake Bay coastal island. In FOG, Japanese coastal island.
• In FISHER, there is a generations-old ancestral tie to island. In FOG, there is a generations-old ancestral tie to island.
• In FISHER, three siblings leave island for mainland and return. In FOG, three siblings leave island for mainland and return.
• In FISHER, feisty daughter-in-law uses two men as sperm donors to conceive an illegitimate child. In FOG, feisty daughter uses a sperm donor to conceive an illegitimate child.
• In FISHER, continues a generational pattern of illegitimacy. In FOG, continues a generational pattern of illegitimacy.
• In FISHER, characters attempt to escape environmental threat to island (drought, pollution). In FOG, characters attempt to escape environmental threat to island (tsunami).
• In FISHER, daughter-in-law Gail has affairs with teenage sweethearts: two perpetual travelers who never married and have returned to island seeking a return to their pasts. In FOG, matriarch Kanae has affair with teenage sweetheart: a perpetual traveler who never married and has returned to island seeking a return to his past.
• In FISHER, community opposes main character who holds out against and resists change. In FOG, community opposes main character who holds out against and resists change.
• In FISHER, daughter-in-law Gail cannot transcend outsider status. In FOG, patriarch Alec cannot transcend outsider status despite marriage to islander.
• In FISHER, one sibling is fragile youngest son. In FOG, one sibling is fragile youngest daughter.
• In FISHER, rivalry among three siblings. In FOG, rivalry among three siblings.
• In FISHER, love interests are passive males. In FOG, love interests are passive male characters.
• In FISHER, characters' identities are wrapped up in being islanders. In FOG, characters' identities are wrapped up in being islanders.
• In FISHER, patriarch and son fear change. In FOG, matriarch and daughter fear change.
• In FISHER, patriarch falls ill bus resists doctors. In FOG, patriarch falls ill but resists doctors.
• In FISHER, themes include: continuing family name, genes, vanishing way of life; family and community loyalty. In FOG, themes include: continuing family name, genes, vanishing way of life; family and community loyalty.
• In FISHER, the narrative voice is a feisty first-person female. In FOG, the narrative voice is a feisty first-person female.
• In FISHER, three deaths occur. In FOG, three deaths occur.
• In FISHER, literary allusions to the Holy Grail myth. In FOG, literary allusions to ancient Japanese myth and folktale.

Does FOG ISLAND MOUNTAINS Have Plot and Theme Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

There are eight main elements that comprise the "heart" on which FISHER turns, and FOG takes six of them:

1. Environmental Danger —Island is threatened by hurricanes and environmental degradation

2. Setting —The importance of place, specifically island and historical connection to it, to identity

3. Community —The importance of community to feeling of belonging and sense of purpose; despite marriage into family and many years residence, protagonist is unable to transcend outsider status

4. Inheritance —The importance of inheriting and passing on: family traditions and genes

5. Illegitimacy — Main female character has affair (sperm donor insemination) and illegitimate pregnancy to pass on family name and genes

6. Illness —Patriarch contracts fatal illness, dies.

Does FOG ISLAND MOUNTAINS Have Line-by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

1 —Japanese coastal island. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 5 — Chesapeake Bay coastal island.

14 — batten down the hatches. IDENTICAL TO 306 —men would scramble to batten down the hatches.

19 —[Kanae’s childhood sweetheart, Fumikaze, became an adult without ever marrying or settling down]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 289 —We had been teenage sweethearts, 328—We may have been summer sweethearts once. 191—Don always with a new woman in tow…and each year there was a new one 278—[Peter regrets never marrying and settling down].

20 —[Kanae lies to Fumikaze]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 144—I knew he meant to console me— for lying.

34 —[Kanae angry at being abandoned]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 96—She was angry at what she saw as my abandonment, 124 —I felt abandoned, adrift, 139 —please don't abandon me.

35, 49, 76, 83, 107, 137—[Alec is foreigner, can never transcend foreigner status despite marriage to native]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 22— She's a come 'ere, 102–103—“come ‘eres” who were “from away” A “come ‘ere,” I soon learned, was anyone whose native lineage didn't reach back for generations…Short of marrying an islander, the only way to transcend the status of outsider was to have children, 127—While technically a “come ‘ere,” she had transcended that status by marrying a native and bearing three sons. Yet she remained outside the community, 225— As a “come ‘ere” I could ill afford to be further exiled by the community, 317— Don had never been one of the natives who viewed me as a “come ‘ere’ because I wasn't born here.

55, 87 —[Youngest child is fragile]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 47 —He grew into a thin, sickly child riddled with allergies and asthma who caught everything that came down the pike.

64— [Fumikazie wants move back to childhood town, return to past]. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 285—The best port is home port…I thought there was more to life than Trappe Island…and a lifelong connection to one place.

65—[sex] feels like an hour. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 67— It [sex] took hours. 120—It lasted maybe a minute but seemed to encompass hours.

85 —Naomi fears change. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 14—I hadn't realized how much of his resistance to other options was based on fear, 255—Like his father, Sonny had always strenuously resisted change. Now change was upon his and he was shaken to the core. He wanted his future back, 343—I had always viewed his inability to separate from the island as fear of change.

87— Megumi [daughter] is just an angry person. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 119—It became clear to me that Peter was an angry young man, 200—Age and experience hadn't dimmed the flame of the angry young man he had been.

102 —Dialogue of strong ties which Fumikaze forgot, but never forgot childhood sweetheart. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 285— One woman. That's where life's real adventure lies. I felt his eyes on me.

116 —Children’s room remain unchanged since childhood. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 344— Behind the door Wes's room remained likewise unchanged.

136–137—stalled car. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 186—“You're going to stall the engine.” “I'm not going to stall it.”

Does UNFURLED Have Striking and Substantial Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

• Title: In FISHER, the word "unfurl" is repeated four times. It is used imagistically to describe the watershed and metaphorically to show that the watermen's lives are unraveling: "Before me on the monitor columns unfurled" "like cerulean ribbons unfurling, to the bay" "releasing millions of tiny, transparent fertilized eggs like ribbons of filaments unfurling" "he unfurled nets between weirs.” In UNFURLED, the title is taken from the identical word.
• Setting: In FISHER, father's house on coastal island, rural shack. In UNFURLED, father's house on coastal island (Wenatchee?), rural cabin (on Hat Island).
• Identical characters, character appearance, traits, names: In FISHER, husband has blue eyes and blonde hair, is tall, muscular, gentle; in UNFURLED, husband has light-colored eyes and blonde hair, is tall, muscular, gentle. In FISHER, daughter-in-law is tall, strong; in UNFURLED, daughter is tall, strong. In FISHER, a main character named Don; in UNFURLED, a minor character named Don. In FISHER, family live on Trappe Island; in UNFURLED, dog named Trapp. In FISHER, cow named Daisy; in UNFURLED, dog named Daisie. In FISHER, older aunt was hippie; in UNFURLED, older woman friend is hippie.
• In FISHER, the family is trapped: on the island, by circumstance. In UNFURLED, the narrator refers to "a trap I've opened."
• In FISHER, there is a generations-old ancestral tie to island. In UNFURLED, there is a generations-old ancestral tie to island.
• In FISHER, patriarch spends his life on water as a waterman. In UNFURLED, patriarch spends his life on water as a ferryboat captain.
• In FISHER, father bullies frightened daughter into abandoning her homework to play horseshoes with him instead. In UNFURLED, mother bullies frightened daughter into abandoning her homework to write letters for her instead.
• In FISHER, there is an emphasis on insemination and sterility. In UNFURLED, there's an emphasis on insemination and sterilization.
• In FISHER, scene where lovemaking stops because wife (expressed bodily) is angry at husband. In UNFURLED, scene where lovemaking stops because wife (expressed bodily) is angry at husband.
• In FISHER, wife is ambivalent about having children. In UNFURLED, wife is ambivalent about having children.
• In FISHER, wife does not realize she's pregnant. In UNFURLED, wife does not realize she's pregnant.
• In FISHER, wife confuses symptoms of pregnancy (nausea, dizziness, swollen breasts) for her emotions. In UNFURLED, wife confuses symptoms of pregnancy (nausea, dizziness, swelling, tenderness breasts) for her emotions.
• In FISHER, son is infertile but unable to accept it. In UNFURLED, daughter believes she is infertile but unable to accept she is pregnant.
• In FISHER, wife only agreed to get pregnant because she knows husband is sterile. In UNFURLED, wife only agrees to get pregnant because she assumes her uterine fibroids make her sterile.
• In FISHER, wife buys pregnancy test kit at pharmacy, secretly uses test to determine she's pregnant. In UNFURLED, wife buys pregnancy test kit at pharmacy, secretly uses test to determine she's pregnant.
• In FISHER, wife realizes she's pregnant in public restroom. In UNFURLED, wife realizes she's pregnant in public restroom.
• In FISHER, scene in gynecologist's waiting room and recovery room when nurse helps dizzy wife. In UNFURLED, scene in gynecologist's waiting room where nurse helps dizzy wife.
• In FISHER, scene where gynecologist tests for fibroids, confirms wife's fertility. In UNFURLED, scene where gynecologist tests for fibroids confirms wife is pregnant.
• In FISHER, gentle husband gets drunk and angry at wife for not having a baby. In UNFURLED, gentle husband gets drunk and angry at wife for not having baby.
• In FISHER, daughter-in-law is angry, especially at father-in-law. In UNFURLED, daughter is angry, especially at father and mother.
• In FISHER, daughter had absentee mother. In UNFURLED, mother was absent.
• In FISHER, patriarch rescues injured son and pays his hospital bill. In UNFURLED, patriarch rescues injured, estranged wife and pays her hospital bill.
• In FISHER, daughter finds deed to farm in mother's name. In UNFURLED, daughter finds deed to cabin in mother's name.
• In FISHER, scene where daughter gets lost on long drive to visit parents on farm. In UNFURLED, scene where daughter gets lost on long drive to visit mother on farm.
• In FISHER, husband leaves wife upon discovery that she is pregnant by brother. In UNFURLED, husband leaves wife upon discovery that she intends to terminate pregnancy.
• In FISHER, patriarch dies. In UNFURLED, patriarch dies.
• In FISHER, scene where wife empties closet of dead husband's clothes, inhales his scent. In UNFURLED, scene where wife empties closet of dead father's clothes, inhales his scent.
• In FISHER, scene where pastor presides over for father-in-law's memorial service in church, In UNFURLED, scene where pastor presides over father's memorial service in church.
• In FISHER, patriarch's sons do not attend his memorial service. In UNFURLED, patriarch's wife does not attend his memorial service.
• In FISHER, scene where wife pours husband's ashes from pier into sea. In UNFURLED, scene where son-in-law pours father-in-law's ashes from ferry into sea.
• Identical motifs: In FISHER, husband and wife bond over nature discoveries: snakeskins, seashells, fossils, a trilobite. In UNFURLED, husband and wife bond over nature discoveries: snakeskins, seashells, fossils, a trilobite.
• Plot turns on continuing motifs: letters and printed papers, documents and official forms, medical records.
• Themes: In FISHER, themes of community belonging, maternal ambivalence, fear of inheriting traits, devastating childhood loss of family member, consequential rage, and attempts to recover from it in adult relationships, infertility, and death. In UNFURLED, themes of community belonging, maternal ambivalence, fear of inheriting traits, devastating childhood loss of family member, consequential rage, and attempts to recover from it in adult relationships, infertility, and death.
• Denouement: In FISHER, angry daughter eventually comes to terms with childhood loss of brother through pregnancy and baby, releases rage. In UNFURLED, angry daughter eventually comes to terms with childhood loss of mother through pregnancy and new life, releases rage.

Does UNFURLED Have Plot and Theme Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

There are eight main elements that comprise the "heart" on which FISHER turns, and UNFURLED takes seven of them:

1. Setting—The importance of place, specifically island and historical connection to it, to identity

2. Community—The importance of community to feeling of belonging

3. Inheritance —The importance of not inheriting and passing on maternal traits

4. Generational Mothering— Absent mothers produce daughters ambivalent about motherhood

5. Childhood Loss —Angry female main character struggles to resolve childhood loss of mother in adult relationships

6. Infertility —Main characters who believe herself infertile becomes pregnant

7. Death —Patriarchs die.

Does UNFURLED Have Line--by-Line Similarities to THE FISHER KING?

7-throughout —[dog named Trapp] NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 5-throughout — Trappe

8 — a trap I've opened. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 134 —“You've trapped yourself, honey,” 239— I was…trapped in a web of my own making.

8 — My dad's silence continues just a beat longer NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 393 —Don hesitated a beat too long. 232 — his silence continued.

19 — I…breathe and breathe and breathe until the desire to vomit passes. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 344 — I suddenly felt sick. I looked away out the window until it passed, 391 —the blood rushed from my head…After it passed.

32 —He’s all hunched over like he's been punched in the gut…I want to help him unroll from this punch. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 402— His chest caved in, as if he'd been sucker punched, and for a split second his body looked as its it would crumple in on itself…My arms shot out to steady him.

33 —there was my dad watching a football game with George. I can still hear the televised cheering and my dad's shouts and fist—shaking at the screen…then I throw up in the wastepaper basket. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 162 — From behind us came the sounds of the game King was watching…punctuated by his request cries urging them on. 210 —Suddenly, King let out a whoop, both arms waving deliriously…Peter's eyes locked onto the set. Don hollered from the kitchen. 228 —I threw up in the trash.

33-throughout— [dog named Daisie] NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 39, 48, 80—Daisy

37 —As my mind rose from sleep into the dark of the guestroom, for a fraction of s second I didn't know where I was. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 154 —I’d open my eyes in the utter blackness [of uncle's guest room] and be disoriented for a distraught second— where was I?

39 —[Intense love-making] But then it stops. The intensity we would usually move toward shifts further and further away…My body is angry and closed down…I hear him shudder and he could be crying, or maybe he's made his way to his own solitary climax. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 137— I felt mounting tension in my pelvis, sensed my muscles contracting, heard my own breathing speed up. Then it all dissolved, dissipated, fell away…I didn't know why my body had suddenly put on the brakes. I was angry at him, I suddenly realized. 237— My face was wet, but whether it was from my tears or his I couldn't tell. 314 — he didn't have to struggle against his own climax.

39 — It [sex] may be minutes later or hours later. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 120—It [sex]lasted maybe a minute but seemed to encompass hours. 401— It seemed to go on forever, but in minutes it was over.

40 — an insemination of one of their animals. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 49—“Pretty soon everyone will be using artificial insemination.” 50—“we'd better give this new artificial insemination thing a go.” 80—I was demonstrating how to insert the tube into Daisy's vagina to administer the AI.

40— I try to remember my last 2 [sic], but can't because sometimes my periods don't come for months, then they come for weeks at a time. I tap a fingertip to my belly and I think, no, it can't be that. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 172—I did a quick calculation of where I was in my cycle. 277 — Without the BBT chart, there was no record of when I menstruated so I never knew where I was in my cycle or when to expect my period…I had just started my period. I couldn't be pregnant.

40—I open my mouth to say something to Neil but I close it again. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 60—I opened my mouth, closed it again. 364 — I opened my mouth to explain, then thought better of it.

43-44— he handed me a barred owl feather with a split quill…he hands me things: a frozen crocus, a piece of snakeskin colored a vivid green from mineral deposits, a rock covered in fish scales. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 44— a three-foot long black snake wriggling, inch by slow inch, out of its old skin…he shed the wrinkled, translucent casing and we scooped it up…We discovered all manner of fascinating things on our adventures: pale blue robin's eggshells, tiny fossils, and once a rare trilobite. 95— we found gray sharks' teeth, bronze arrowheads, pastel-colored sea glass and, once, even a pair of worn silver coins he called doubloons that he swore came from Spanish galleons.

46 — I am in the public toilets…all I care about is ripping open the box of the pregnancy test. I pull on the plastic tester, I…pee…on the stick…I look down at the test and see that it's positive, I throw it into the garbage. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 336— I sprinted for the [truck stop public] restroom. 339 — I'd picked up a pregnancy test kit on the way home, and after supper I snuck down to the shed with it. My urine turned the little wand bright blue. I stuffed it back in the box and dropped it in the trash can.

46— The thought rises up —dark and secret— that I only agreed to try [to get pregnant] because I assumed it would never work. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 232— I saw that he still clung to irrational hope…needed to believe he could still impregnate me, and he needed me to believe it with him. Of him…"We don't need it [diaphragm]," he whispered. For a hopeful instant I thought he'd come to his senses, that he had accepted the truth of his sterility…I stared at him. Not only did he still believe he was capable of impregnating me, now he wanted to, beloved himself capable of it.

50 —As the story goes, there were once pirates in Ballard. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 95 —pirates overran the island in the 17th century…It had first gained notoriety as a hideout in the 17th century for pirates who plundered nearby plantations and passing merchant ships 202 —At various times, it has served as a hideout for marauding pirates.

56 —A letter in the mailbox. Addressed to us…My dad would check the post mark. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 16—the mailbox, tugged open the metal lip…I felt around in the mailbox…My father-in-law kept a post office box…I was sure our letter was in it. 156 —My hand came up holding an envelope addressed to us. 17 — It was addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley,"our name. 17 —I checked the postmark. 397 —a postcard with an Alaska postmark addressed to Regina. 22 —“What I'd like to know is what our mail was doing in your post office box?”     

67— She isn't really asking this so I don't need to answer. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 205— It was a rhetorical question…He didn't really expect an answer. 219— It was a rhetorical question, but their crash course…had provided them with the answer 376 —It was rhetorical question designed not to elicit a response, but to eclipse one.

67 — Lisa is…Still mostly a hippie…Her clothing billows around her in lengths. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 96 — she stood out in brilliantly-colored saffron or magenta Indian prints studded with tiny mirrors and bells that caught the light and tinkled when she moved. She was the first person I knew to get multiple holes pierced in her ears…and she eschewed a bra. 97— during the back-to-nature movement…hippie lifestyle.

67 —she asks questions which mean George has already told her many of these same things…But none of us minds the repetition. We keep on this, mimicking each other, nodding…asking and answering the same questions. Over and over. If a pause in the conversation arises, someone quickly covers it with something we have already said. Eventually Lisa takes over, repeating what we've all said. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 101— I asked questions I already knew the answers to. Sonny had already told me much of the same. 71—He repeated the questions 123—Typically, he’d…repeat himself until the listener felt compelled to reply…asking a direct question. 266—He…phrased questions out loud then answered them to his own satisfaction. 271—I kept turning the question over and over in my mind.

72 —the number of the gynecologist. I dial and let it ring, then I hang up. But I call back and before I can think about it, I make an appointment for three days later. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 161 —I searched the [fertility clinic] notice for a phone number. 63 —my gynecologist 409 — I picked up the receiver, put it back in the cradle…I picked it up again and dialed…which gave me the courage to dial the number. 162 — I mulled over whether to keep the appointment or not.

73—I think I am ready to confront the scent of this room. When I dare to breathe in— this wonderful, horrible, familiar scent— it fills me and it stops me, and I back away because it's like a presence, and within it, it is impossible for me to believe that he is gone SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 36— The cabin had a stale, musty smell. 387— The…room…stale smell of incubated air. 412— That night she tackled the chore she'd avoided all fall. She emptied the…closets of King's clothes. 412 —closets…unfolding a threadbare cable-knit sweater, her face bent to it, she inhaled deeply, then hugged it to her chest. 313— My eyes closed and for a moment I lost myself in his scent. 367 —Its scent fills my nostrils. I can't get it out of my system. 589— drink in his smell. 413 —Without him and his father the silence in the house was deafening. I felt their absence everywhere…and anticipated their presence everywhere else…It was hard to believe they weren't out on the water and would reappear at any minute.

76 — I push back the sliding door to my dad's closet, take the deepest breath I have ever taken and step inside…I raise a coat sleeve to my face…"We'll have to give all of this away," I say. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 412 —She emptied the bureau drawers and closets of King's clothes, packed them into boxes, and sealed them with tape to take to Goodwill…unfolding a threadbare cable-knit sweater, her face bent to it, she inhaled deeply, then hugged it to her chest.

76 —I say, more curtly then [sic] I mean to. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 339 —He nodded curtly. 152 —It came out louder than I intended.

78 —Neil is refolding the sweaters…I take two of the sweaters in my arms and hug them. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 412— unfolding a threadbare cable-knit sweater, her face bent to it, she inhaled deeply, then hugged it to her chest.

78 — I read her loopy handwriting. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 227 —The note by the phone was in King's usual illegible scrawl. 415 —shaky, nearly unrecognizable handwriting.

85 —I was just going to check the mail. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 16 —the mailbox, tugged open the metal lip 17— I felt around in the mailbox and bag 19 —“I was wondering if you could get my mail out.” 353— I'd taken it upon myself to collect the mail.

87–90 —“Hey, do you want to help me with something?” She [mother] waves me toward the table. “Come on.” “I just have to change the pump on Lizzy's tank,” I [daughter] say. “Then I have to work on my [school science] project.” She shrugs, her smile tight. “This is more important.” There are ripped papers and newspapers and pencils spread out on the table. Scissors and an open glue stick. "I have to work on my Lizzy project." Her smile falls, her face darkens. "What you need to know here is vital. I mean it, Ella. More than your science project." "Okay," I say quickly. She smiles then. "I want you to write exactly what I've written here," she says, thrusting a sheet of white paper in front of me. "I need to send a lot of these letters out…" I nod, sit down at the table across from her, and reach for a pen…I try reading the letter she's left for me to copy but the words are swimming, my eyes are watering, so I tell myself to stop being such a baby…But my mouth is dry…I let out the breath I'm holding. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 32–34— he said, disappointed. "I guess it's just you and me." A familiar anxiety gripped me. Before we began coming to the farm keeping up with my schoolwork was never a problem. I was a good student, diligent and disciplined. I loved to read and puzzle out equations. My teacher thought I should skip third grade. But since we'd started spending every weekend on the farm finding time to do my homework had become a struggle…Now, my schoolwork weighed heavily on me. "I can't, Daddy," I whined. "I've got homework."…"I have to finish a book report on the Amish and a science experiment on photosynthesis and practice long division and - " "Oh, your homework can wait," he said, dismissively…"Daddy, I've got all this - " "I know, I know. Homework. I heard you the first time. And I told you that you can do it tomorrow." "But it's a whole lot," I said, anxiously. I faced him. "I have to do well, Daddy," I cried in desperation. "Or my teacher won't let me skip a grade and - " "Awww," he said with exaggerated pity. "Poor wittle Gail. Is it too much for da wittle gul?" "No, but - " "Maybe you're not ready to skip a grade after all if you can't even handle the homework you have now. Perhaps I should call your teacher on Monday and tell her how much difficulty you're having." "No!" I screamed. By now I was near tears. There was no way out, no other option but to do my father's bidding. I shuffled forward, head bowed, to the door.348—After a minute, she went back to her papers.

92–93— I find the deed to a small cabin, a residence permit, and a boat slip rental receipt…The deed is in both of their names…But now these ownership papers in my hand. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 408-409— My hand came up holding…the deed to the farm…I didn't know whether a new deed needed to be drawn up in my mother's name. 410 —ask about the deed…"the deed was in your name." 136 —“Mind if I take a look at your permit?"…"Since when do I need a permit?” 137 —“I'll...apply for the permit tomorrow." 416 —Nailed to the door was a building permit. 137—“ Guy was building a fifty-slip marina 181 —we found her tied up in the last slip 188 —“That slip is yours as long as you need it." 260 —untied the [boat] from the slip.

92 — The papers in my hands have weight and texture. These are impossible facts. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 404 — I glanced again at the form in my hand. The information on it would be entered into a computer…Whatever I wrote down would become...part of his permanent record. 17 —What if I'd neglected to file all the papers? 63— we actually filed the papers. 324—“File a few papers, pay a nominal fee. There's a hearing, but it's very informal." 344—“There are papers to sign, documents to file." 408 —he passed documents across the desk for her to sign. 366 —he flipped through the papers before him. 371 —he rifled through his papers again. 380— He rifled through a stack of papers at his elbow 382 —He shuffled the papers before him. 409 — I had gathered all the necessary papers. 15 —From that moment forward there was a record, a document. 173— the weight of his body…was a welcome fact.

93 —Inside the file are medical records. Receipts and charts and notes. For a patient named Maggie Tomlinson. I have to read everything twice to understand even if it's all actually quite simple. At some point a Jane Doe checked into a hospital…I find my dad's signature across many of these papers and hunt for dates STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 162 —bent over clipboards filling out detailed medical histories. 164 —Dr. Owen was reading our [medical] file. 178 —the hospital bill arrived…King had filled out all the forms and signed him in…I unfolded the bill. I swiftly scanned the breakdown for various services…I scanned the bill again, searching, praying for some mention of an insurance deductible…a line that read: "Party Responsible for Payment" with King's large, bold signature above it.

94 —I do the math. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 131 —We did all the math.

98 —[character name] Don IDENTICAL TO Throughout —Don

102—“You’re hurting me, let me go!” I slap her and the sound is thick, sickening in the tiled room. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 390— "You're hurting me. Let go!" 177— I heard the awful smack of flesh slamming into flesh.

103, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 122, 136, 138, 139, 145, 146, 212 —I’ve exhausted all my anger…I focus on the hard edge of my anger and enjoy the fire in it…in my anger…I breathe in a salty lungful of fury…take in more anger…turning back to anger…my angry, trembling fingers…in my furiousness…now I am set on fireworks…I need the explosion…my anger…My rage is so much easier to live with…I feel anger bubbling up again…My anger sharpens to a point…"So you're angry." "You're furious, Ella. You're so furious you've decided to ruin everything else. Including us."…a surge of anger whips through me. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 329 —I found myself breathing more and more deeply, gulping down great lungfuls of it. 289 —his fury spent, he seemed to suddenly run out of steam. 397—He sounded spent, exhausted. 17 —But it soon gave way to anger. 18 —fury flared in me. 23 — I felt rage bubbling to the surface. 24 —infuriated me all the more…All my fury at King. 80 —her assertion infuriated me, and I came to resent her even more. 85 —For weeks my fury at my father and Wes had kept me company…I became delirious with rage. 127— It infuriated me. 129—My fury flared. 137— I waited a minute, nursing my resentment 162 — I felt a surge of jealous rage at King. 170 —I couldn't decide which infuriated me more. 171 —now infuriated me. 196— I stood rigid with fury 228 —My sense of shock gave way to fear, which came out as anger. 242 —I felt myself go rigid with rage…didn't dissipate my anger. 304—If my rage at Sonny had driven me. 320— I felt a rush of fury at both of them…my fear turned to anger. 342 —My inability to provoke him enraged me even more. 350 —I felt protective anger rise in me. 389 —infuriated me. 390—A murderous rage welled up in me. 410 —I felt an irrational pulse of rage at her. 411—infuriated me.

108 —I can feel his heart hammering away underneath the immaculately white shirt SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 341—My heart hammered my chest so hard I wondered if he could feel it. 296—My breasts flattened against his starched [white] shirt.

116 —I lean over the edge of the boat and vomit into the ocean. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 93—me heaving over the side. 90 —I vomited over and over.

116 —I scan the clipboard for my dad's handwriting. There is nothing on the first page but on the second I find it. John Tomlinson. Just over a week before. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 250— he reached for the clipboard…in the minute it took him to add his name, I glimpsed the number of signatures. 65 —She…slipped the stack through the rings of a clipboard. 68 —He handed the clipboard.

118 —I swallow through another roll of nausea, grab a cracker from my pocket. STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO 344 —my nausea reminded me. 345 —I was…nibbling on a sandwich between waves of nausea. 34 —I was…too nauseated to choke down 370 — “You need anything? Crackers?”

120 —Underneath all the boxes are [sic] a small stack of documents. Papers. Letters....I don't want to read them, don't want to see her scrawling handwriting again … I don't recognize the handwriting. SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO 409— I had gathered all the necessary papers from where my father had stored them in a s****.>

121 —A current runs through me from toe to face. NEARLY IDENTICAL TO 295—An ominous current coursed through me.