Summerary
Callum McGregor and Persephone “Sephy” Hadley are from different worlds. She is a Cross, dark-skinned, wealthy, and privileged; he is a nought, the light-skinned lower class that was once enslaved by Crosses. Sephy’s father, Kamal, is the Home Office Minister, and she has multiple homes with servants; Callum’s parents, Meggie and Ryan, can hardly scrape by, especially after Meggie was fired by Sephy’s mother, Jasmine, three years ago. The children are forbidden from seeing each other, but for the last three years, Sephy and Callum have been secretly meeting on Sephy’s private beach. They are best friends, though Callum is very aware of the differences in their status and world views.
Sephy and Callum share their first kiss the day before school starts. Callum is one of four noughts allowed into Heathcroft High School, where Sephy is already a student; if she hadn’t helped him study, he probably wouldn’t have had the resources to pass the entrance exam. Sephy is thrilled to see her friend every day, but meeting in public turns out to be more complex than she’d expected. Before classes even start, Crosses riot outside Heathcroft, and their violence against the four nought students only stops because Sephy yells that the Crosses are acting like a bunch of “blankers”—a vile racial slur that creates a rift between Sephy and Callum. Sephy’s attempts to make Callum feel included backfire, and he decides that not speaking publicly will be best, which makes Sephy feel abandoned. When Sephy sits at the nought lunch table, she’s removed by a teacher, then beaten up by Cross girls in the bathroom; when Callum points out that noughts contributed to social and scientific development alongside Crosses, he’s sent to the headmaster’s office.
These events at school are complicated by their respective home lives. Sephy’s parents are estranged, and her mother is a lonely alcoholic. Callum’s siblings, Jude and Lynette, often argue because Lynette is unwell—after a traumatic event three years ago that Callum doesn’t understand, Lynny has been off in her own world, and she believes she is a Cross. After an especially heated argument, Ryan McGregor explains to his sons that Lynny is like this because she was beaten nearly to death by a group of nought men who found out she was dating a Cross. As a result of that argument, Lynny is injured, and she snaps out of her fantasy world; within a few weeks, she steps in front of a bus, leaving a note to Callum explaining that she killed herself. At the same time, Sephy's mother Jasmine takes sleeping pills in an attempt to end her life (though Kamal Hadley and others seem to think it was just to get attention).
Lynette’s death has a huge impact on the McGregor family, especially when the previously passive Ryan joins the Liberation Militia (L.M.), allowing Jude to come along. Callum and Sephy continue to meet, argue, and struggle to see eye-to-eye. On a day he plans to meet her at the Dundale shopping center, he learns from his family that the L.M. is planning to bomb that Cross-heavy area. He runs to Dundale and pulls Sephy out right before the bomb goes off. Meggie, who believes in Alex Luther and the pacifist route, tries to kick her husband out of the house to keep her sons safe, but she hurts her hand slapping him. Since they’re noughts, they need ID to go to the emergency room, so Callum’s and Jude’s fingerprints are taken; because of this, Jude’s prints are registered in a database and found on the scene of the Dundale bombing. Unbeknownst to Sephy, who has decided to go away to boarding school, Callum’s house is tear-gassed in the night, and Callum, Meggie, and Ryan McGregor are all arrested.
Ryan confesses to the bombing, including seven counts of murder, because the police tell him that Jude will hang if he doesn’t. He later pleads not guilty to these charges. The trial is highly publicized, and both Sephy and Callum are called to testify. Callum is asked to leave Heathcroft during the trial, and he decides never to come back—he knows that Heathcroft will never accept a nought like him. Ryan’s legal fees are paid by an anonymous benefactor whom Callum believes to be Sephy, but Sephy learns that it’s actually her mother, who still considers the McGregors friends even after firing Meggie years ago. Ryan is found guilty on all counts and sentenced to hang, but immediately before his death, the governor commutes his sentence to life in prison. Callum climbs up Sephy’s balcony that night, full of rage and pain, and they fight, then spend the night together. Ryan dies four days later trying to escape prison.
A few months pass while Callum grieves, and his unhappiness, confusion, and hatred of Crosses grows. When Jude comes out of hiding to recruit him to the L.M., Callum agrees. Sephy is leaving for boarding school, and she writes to Callum, asking him to run away with her; Callum opens the letter too late and sprints to the Hadley estate only to see Sephy's car pulling away.
Around two and a half years pass. Callum rises quickly through the L.M., but he’s uncomfortable when Jude takes over his cell. Jude shares that their next task is to kidnap Sephy Hadley, who’s home from boarding school for the first time. Callum decides to side with the L.M., luring Sephy to the beach, then locking her away as leverage against Kamal Hadley. While captive, Sephy talks to Callum, who realizes that his hatred was something he used to survive, not really part of him; he admits to Sephy that he loves her, and they make love. The L.M.’s attempt to ransom Sephy goes wrong, and Jude returns to find Callum and Sephy immediately after they have sex. Sephy escapes in the ensuing fight between Jude and Callum.
In the following four months, Sephy realizes that she’s pregnant. She hides it as long as she can, but her sister, Minerva, tells her parents. Kamal and Jasmine finally unite in their desire for Sephy to get an abortion, but she refuses. Callum comes out of hiding when he hears, and he’s captured while talking to Sephy. Callum is wrongfully charged with raping Sephy, and he is sentenced to hang. Kamal Hadley offers both Callum and Sephy the choice between Callum’s life and their unborn child’s, and both pick the child’s. Callum is hanged, and with his last breath he tells Sephy he loves her. Sephy gives birth to Callie Rose McGregor, using Callum’s last name instead of her own.
Characters
Persephone "Sephy" Hadley
Sephy is the youngest daughter of Kamal and Jasmine Hadley. She is wealthy even by Cross standards, and her friendship with Callum is basically the only difficult part of her young life. At the start of the novel; As her relationship with Callum becomes more serious, she begins to notice the flaws in her world, eventually going to boarding school, where she joins dissident groups, sit-ins, and demonstrations for racial equality. She loves Callum and gives birth to his daughter, Callie Rose, after he is hanged, despite her parents' and society's wishes.
Sephy is a sweet person who tries her best, but her enthusiasm—especially in the first half of the novel—often results in tense or upsetting situations for Callum. Sephy is a Cross.
Callum Ryan McGregor
Callum is the youngest son of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. He has always been aware of the difference between his life and Sephy's, and despite being her best friend, he resents her privilege. Callum begins the novel as one of only four nought students allowed into Heathcroft High School, but he becomes disenchanted with the idea of changing the system from within, particularly after his father is wrongfully arrested and then killed. Callum becomes a high-ranking member of the Liberation Militia while Sephy is away at school, and he is eventually hanged on false charges of raping Sephy.
Callum is an intelligent young man, but he struggled, eventually committing murders and kidnappings for the L.M. He loves Sephy, and he chooses to be hanged rather than falsely admit to raping her.
Callum is a nought.
Jasmine Adeyebe-Hadley
Jasmine is Sephy and Minerva's mother, Kamal's wife. She is an alcoholic, and Sephy observes that she's rarely seen without a glass of wine in her hand (usually chardonnay). She and Kamal have a troubled marriage, and they live separately, except when Kamal returns home to maintain his image. Jasmine attempts suicide by taking sleeping pills, after which she becomes very controlling of her daughters.
Jasmine used to employ Meggie McGregor as a nanny, and she considers the McGregors her friends, despite not speaking to them for three years. She secretly pays Ryan McGregor's legal fees when he is charged with the Dundale bombing.
Jasmine is a Cross.
Kamal Hadley
Kamal is Sephy and Minerva's father, and Jasmine's husband. He is the Home Office Minister, and many believe he will be Prime Minister one day. He has a secretary named Juno Ayelette. He is firmly opposed to social equality between Crosses and noughts, and he expects his family to behave appropriately and not to tarnish his public image. Kamal is cruel to Jasmine and sometimes his daughters, though he spends most of his time working.
Kamal is a Cross.
Minerva Hadley
Minerva is Sephy's older sister, daughter of Jasmine and Kamal Hadley. Minerva and Sephy aren't close, and Sephy calls her "Minnie" to tease her. Minerva has a tendency to "flounce" from rooms. Minerva is supportive of Sephy going away to school, and when Sephy is pregnant, Minerva notices and encourages her to tell their parents; however, in the end she reveals the pregnancy herself, breaking her promise to Sephy.
Minerva is a Cross.
Margaret "Meggie" McGregor
Meggie is Ryan McGregor's wife, mother of Lynette, Jude, and Callum. Meggie believes in nonviolent protest as a path to racial equality, and she is very protective of her family. When Ryan joins the L.M., she kicks him out of the house rather than let him get her children in trouble. This doesn't work, and Callum ends up joining the L.M. He never speaks to his mother again to protect her, though he does send money when he can.
Meggie is a nought, though she reveals to Jude that her grandfather was a Cross.
Ryan McGregor
Ryan is Meggie McGregor's husband, father of Lynette, Jude, and Callum. Ryan starts the novel an ineffectual, passive man whom Callum has never seen raise his voice. Particularly after Lynette dies, this changes, as Ryan becomes more angry and active. He joins the L.M. and is involved in the Dundale bombing. To protect Jude from the police, Ryan confesses to the Dundale bombing; though his death sentence is commuted, Ryan is killed while trying to escape prison four days later.
Ryan is a nought.
Lynette McGregor
Lynette is Callum's older sister, the oldest child of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. Callum is very close to her and calls her "Lynny." Three years before the main events of the novel, Lynette was horrifically beaten by noughts for dating a Cross named Jed. Since then, she's been stuck in a "fantasy world," and in the brief instances she's engaged with the real world, she believes she's a Cross. She and Jude argue often, and after one of these arguments, Lynette returns to the real world; shortly after, she steps in front of a bus, leaving a suicide note for Callum.
Lynette is a nought.
Jude McGregor
Jude is Callum's older brother, the middle child of Ryan and Meggie McGregor. He had to leave school when Jasmine Hadley fired Meggie, and he is unemployed, furious, and resentful of Crosses, whom he usually calls "daggers." He doesn't support Callum going to Heathcroft, and he joins the Liberation Militia around when Ryan does. Jude is involved in planting the bomb at Dundale.
After their father dies and Callum leaves school, Jude recruits Callum to the Liberation Militia. He eventually leads the mission to kidnap Sephy; after that goes wrong, Callum loses touch with his brother, and Callum dies unsure whether Jude is dead or alive.
Jude is a nought.
Dionne Fernandez, Joanne Longshadow, and Lola Jordan
Dionne, Joanne, and Lola are girls a year above Sephy in school who beat her up in the bathroom for sitting at the nought table in the lunchroom.
Dionne, Joanne, and Lola are Crosses.
Sarah Pike
Sarah is Jasmine Hadley's secretary. Sarah is the one who fires Meggie on Jasmine's behalf in the prologue. She is sympathetic to Callum's troubles—she helps hide Callum from Jasmine after he spends the night in Sephy's room, and she delivers a letter from Sephy to Callum's house—but she's not willing to be fired to help them.
Sarah is a nought.
Mrs. Paxton, Mr. Jason, and Mr. Costa
Mrs. Paxton teaches Math at Heathcroft, and she is especially kind to Callum, arguing with Mr. Costa in favor of making Heathcroft a haven for noughts. She is dark-skinned, even for a Cross, and is open-minded and friendly.
Mr. Jason teaches History at Heathcroft, and he is especially harsh on Callum, sending him to the headmaster's office for arguing that noughts contributed to scientific discovery. Mrs. Paxton explains to Callum that Mr. Jason is hard on him because Mr. Jason himself is half-Cross, half-nought; when Callum mentions this to Mr. Jason, Mr. Jason is enraged.
Mr. Costa is the headmaster of Heathcroft. He does not like having noughts at his school, and he argues against Mrs. Paxton, saying that the difficulties the noughts are facing at Heathcroft are necessary to prepare them for the real world. When he asks Callum to leave school while Ryan is on trial for the Dundale bombing. Mr. Costa is a Cross.
Adam Stanhope
Adam Stanhope is the solicitor who agrees to help Meggie and Callum handle Ryan McGregor's criminal case after he's charged with the Dundale bombing. Stanhope's outer office is intentionally shabby and run-down, but his personal office is professional and luxurious; he claims his shabby reception area helps put Crosses at ease, letting his successful business fly under the radar. Stanhope is a logical man, and he is shown to care about the trial, but he and Kelani Adams become officially involved in the case only after Ryan's legal fees are paid.
Stanhope is a nought.
Kelani Adams
Kelani Adams is an attorney with a reputation for being ruthless and effective. She believes passionately that Ryan McGregor shouldn't be charged with the bombing, and she's prepared to fight the case even after Ryan has given up. Her legal fees are secretly paid by Jasmine Hadley.
Adams is a Cross.
Pete, Morgan, and Leila
Paul, Morgan, and Leila are the three other members of Stiletto, the L.M. cell of which Callum becomes second-in-command. Paul is the leader. Morgan deals with computers. Callum recruited Leila after seeing her protect herself; though Leila gives Callum a standing invitation to sleep with her, Callum never takes her up on it. When the pickup of Sephy's ransom goes wrong, Pete is killed and Leila is arrested.
Paul, Morgan, and Leila are noughts.
Andrew Dorn
Andrew Dorn is the second-in-command to the General, the head of the L.M. He personally oversees Sephy Hadley's ransom. However, Sephy recognizes him from years before: Dorn actually works for her father, providing Kamal with insider information on the L.M.
Sephy tells Callum this. At the end of the novel, Callum sees an article about government spies within the L.M., and he hopes that Jude has succeeded in removing Dorn from the L.M.
Andrew Dorn is a nought.
Jack
Jack is the Hewmett Prison guard assigned to Callum after he is wrongfully charged with raping Sephy. Jack is kind, and though he isn't able to let Sephy in to see Callum, he does agree to take her a letter. On Callum's last day, Jack plays cards with him and tears up when they say goodbye.
Jack is a Cross.
Callie Rose McGregor
Callie Rose is Sephy and Callum's daughter, born after Callum is hanged. Her name is in honor of Callum, and her middle name was at Callum's request. Sephy includes in the public birth announcement that Callie Rose will be taking her father's last name.
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