My Fault

Noah Morgan is one of the protagonists and first-person narrators of the novel. In the narrative present, Noah is 17 years old. Since she was a child, she has lived in Toronto, Canada with her mother Raffaella Morgan. Her unnamed dad lived with the family until Noah was 11 years old. After years of his abuse, Noah and Raffaella reported him, and he was convicted and incarcerated for endangering Noah. This traumatic event continues to affect Noah in the narrative present and launches the novel’s explorations of how she works toward Overcoming Past Trauma.

At the beginning of the novel, Noah feels displaced and alone when her mom marries “the incredible, enigmatic William Leister” and decides to move her and Noah to Los Angeles, California (3). Noah has little interest in leaving her home in Toronto and moving in with William and his son Nick Leister because it’s “hard for [her] to adapt to change” and she’s “terrified of strangers” (2). When she arrives at her new family’s home, Noah feels on edge and alone. She knows that Raffaella and William—who’s a successful and wealthy lawyer—are trying to make her comfortable with their extravagant gifts, but Noah “want[s] to go back home” (11).