His & Hers Summary Chapter by Chapter | Alice Feeney

Last Updated: September 2, 2026

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Introduction To His & Hers (Chapter-by-Chapter Summary)

How well do you really know the people you once loved? Alice Feeney’s His & Hers masterfully explores this question through a whirlwind of secrets, lies, and long-buried trauma.

The story pulls you into the claustrophobic world of Blackdown, a picture-perfect English village where a brutal murder forces two broken people to confront a shared, painful past.

This His & Hers summary chapter by Chapter is your guide through the intricate, shifting timelines and perspectives that define this gripping novel.

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His & Hers Summary Chapter by Chapter Alice Feeney (1)

Book Structure Overview

His & Hers is structured into 53 principal chapters, plus a Prologue and a four-part Epilogue titled “Six Months Later.”

The narrative unfolds over a single, intense week (Monday to Friday), punctuated by crucial flashbacks to 1999–2000.

The chapters alternate between two primary points of view, titled “Her” (Anna Andrews) and “Him” (DCI Jack Harper).

Interspersed throughout are uncaptioned, italicized chapters from the killer’s perspective, creating a tense, triple-narrative puzzle.

His & Hers Book Table of Contents

The core narrative is divided into chapters primarily titled by perspective:

Prologue (Italicized Narrator)
Her: Anna Andrews (Monday)
Him: Jack Harper (Tuesday)
Her: Anna Andrews (Tuesday)
(Italicized Narrator sections continue throughout)
… continues through Chapter 53.
Epilogue: Six Months Later (Parts 1-4)

His & Hers Summary Chapter by Chapter

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This section contains detailed, chapter-by-chapter plot summaries.

Prologue (Italicized Narrator)

An anonymous narrator reflects on a profound, criminal love that required them to change everything about themselves.

They speak of lost and found sanity and the visceral satisfaction of “snapping.” A core motif is introduced: every story has two sides, so someone is always lying.

Waiting at a train station, the narrator hears a rhythmic, commanding sound from the tracks that forms the words “Kill them all,” setting a chilling, vengeful tone for the events to come.

Her: Anna Andrews (Monday)

Anna Andrews presents the BBC One O’Clock News, masking her deep personal struggles with a polished facade. She is a high-functioning alcoholic, using cupcakes to hide the scent of wine.

Her fragile world shatters when Cat Jones, her predecessor, returns from maternity leave early and reclaims the presenting chair.

Demoted and furious, Anna is consumed by a dark, resentful thought: she wishes Cat was dead.

Him: Jack Harper (Tuesday)

DCI Jack Harper is called to a murder scene in Blackdown Woods. He is horrified to recognize the victim as Rachel Hopkins, a woman he had a secret affair with and was with just the night before.

He notes the words “TWO FACED” painted on her fingernails and fears his own footprint may be at the scene.

Jack immediately decides to conceal his personal connection from his team, including the eager DS Priya Patel, to protect his career.

Her: Anna Andrews (Tuesday)

A hungover Anna gets a call to present the news after Cat Jones fails to arrive. Her hope of reclaiming her job is dashed when Cat shows up late.

Cat manipulatively assigns Anna to cover the Blackdown murder, knowingly forcing her to return to the hometown she has avoided for two decades.

Anna has no choice but to confront the past she fled.

Italicized Narrator (Tuesday)

The killer describes murdering Rachel Hopkins after she got off a train. They reveal Rachel was corrupt, stealing from her own homeless charity.

The narrator watched Rachel have sex with a man in a car before following her into the woods.

They took Rachel’s shoes as a souvenir, relishing her fear, and confirm the killing was part of a larger, deliberate plan.

Him: Jack Harper (Tuesday)

Jack grows anxious as DS Patel notices the scratch on his face from Rachel.

He delivers a press statement, only to be confronted by Anna, who has arrived to report. She asks a disturbingly specific question about a “foreign object” found in the victim’s mouth—a detail not released to the public.

This direct question alarms Jack and suggests Anna has insider knowledge.

Her: Anna Andrews (Tuesday)

Anna sees Jack, her ex-husband, and notes his disheveled state.

They have a tense exchange about their past and her source of information. Anna reflects on their marriage’s collapse after the death of their daughter, Charlotte, which left her emotionally shattered.

The professional confrontation quickly becomes deeply personal.

Him: Jack Harper (Tuesday)

Jack, suspecting Anna is hiding something, follows her as she leaves.

He searches her car and finds a parking ticket dated the previous day, placing her in Blackdown at the time of Rachel’s murder.

He watches her enter her mother’s house and hears a woman scream from inside, escalating his concern and suspicion.

Her: Anna Andrews (Tuesday)

Anna visits her mother, who suffers from severe dementia and lives in squalor, a stark contrast to her former pristine self.

Her mother confuses Anna for her fifteen-year-old self. Anna recalls the traumatic day her father disappeared, finding her mother covered in blood.

The visit ends abruptly when her mother turns on her, screaming for her to get out.

Him: Jack Harper (Tuesday)

Jack reveals he has power of attorney over Anna’s mother’s affairs, causing further conflict. He confronts Anna with the parking ticket, which she denies.

At the mortuary, he learns a red-and-white friendship bracelet was tied around Rachel’s tongue.

Later, he makes a terrifying discovery: Rachel’s missing phone and muddy shoes are hidden in the boot of his own car, framing him for the crime.

Her: Anna Andrews (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Anna breaks the news of Rachel’s identity live on air, angering Jack. She confesses her career demotion.

Staying at The White Hart hotel, she finds an old school photo with a black cross drawn over Rachel’s face.

This triggers memories of her first day at St Hilary’s High School, where she met Rachel, Helen Wang, and Jack’s sister, Zoe.

Him: Jack Harper (Wednesday)

A second body is found at St Hilary’s School.

The victim is Headmistress Helen Wang, who has a friendship bracelet on her tongue and the word “LIAR” stapled to her chest. Jack connects the victims: Helen, Rachel, Anna, and Zoe were all in the same school year.

He warns Anna she may be a target and discovers her car has been vandalized and her bag stolen.

Italicized Narrator (Wednesday)

The killer details murdering Helen Wang, mocking her literary ambitions.

They planted drugs in her office to tarnish her reputation.

The use of a staple gun was an opportunistic choice.

The narrator concludes they need to make a “quick call,” suggesting they are actively manipulating events and people around them.

Her: Anna Andrews (Wednesday)

Anna is questioned after her fingerprints are found on the school secretary’s phone, which was used to anonymously tip her off about the murder.

She recalls a cruel bullying incident orchestrated by Rachel, known as the “Coke can incident,” targeting a girl named Catherine Kelly.

Anna admits Rachel was blackmailing her over secrets from their school days. Overwhelmed, she flees to a childhood hiding spot in the woods.

Him: Jack Harper (Wednesday)

Jack delivers the tragic news to Helen Wang’s mother.

Needing an escape, he accepts a drink at DS Priya Patel’s house. While she’s momentarily out of the room, he turns on Rachel’s phone and finds an email revealing she planned to end their affair.

In a moment of blurred boundaries and alcohol, he and Priya share a kiss.

Her: Anna Andrews (Wednesday)

Anna reflects on the night her daughter, Charlotte, died while in her mother’s care. She goes to Jack and Zoe’s house, finding the door ajar.

This triggers a harrowing flashback to her sixteenth birthday party, where the girls, including Rachel and Zoe, pressured her and Catherine Kelly into taking drugs with older men.

Anna fled after witnessing Catherine being sexually assaulted.

Him: Jack Harper (Wednesday/Thursday)

Jack returns home from Priya’s to find his front door open. He discovers his sister, Zoe, murdered in the bathtub, with one eye sewn shut.

The word “ANDREWS” is written in blood on the wall.

When Priya arrives, Rachel’s phone rings in Jack’s pocket, confirming he is being meticulously framed for the murders.

Her: Anna Andrews (Thursday)

With her hotel reservation cancelled, her producer Richard takes her to a secluded house.

He reveals his wife is Cat Jones—who is actually Catherine Kelly, the girl bullied at school. Anna finds Cat pretending to hang herself; it’s a trap.

Cat attacks Richard, and Anna flees into the woods. There, her mother confesses to killing Anna’s father years ago and burying him in the garden.

Him: Jack Harper (Thursday)

Jack is arrested by Priya at a gamekeeper’s lodge but manages to escape.

He races into the woods to find Anna. He locates Anna and her mother, but in the confusion, Priya arrives and shoots Jack in the shoulder, believing she is stopping a dangerous situation.

Her: Anna Andrews (Thursday)

Anna tries to drive herself and her mother to safety. Cat Jones appears in the road with a knife. Anna accidentally hits Cat with the car, pinning her against a tree.

Priya arrives and shoots Cat dead as she attempts to stab Anna.

In the aftermath, Anna finds the murder weapon—Jack’s distinctive wedding knife—and hides it inside her mother’s beehive to protect her.

Epilogue: Six Months Later

Anna has regained her position as the BBC newsreader. She and Jack have reconciled, are living together in London, and are raising Jack’s niece, Olivia.

Anna has secretly reburied her father’s bones under a new patio at her mother’s house.

Nanny Andrews is in a luxurious retirement village, dying of cancer but content, believing her violent actions ultimately forged the “happy family” she wanted for Anna.

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