Both Things Are True Summary, Characters and Themes
Both Things Are True by Kathleen Barber is a contemporary novel about identity, love, and second chances. It follows Vanessa Summers, a popular yoga instructor whose glamorous life with her tech-fiancé crumbles when his cryptocurrency empire collapses in scandal.
Left adrift and publicly shamed, Vanessa retreats to Chicago, where she unexpectedly reconnects with her first love, Sam, a man she thought was long gone from her life. As old wounds reopen and truths surface, Vanessa must confront her past and decide who she wants to be—not the image the world expects, but the woman she’s finally ready to become.
Summary
Vanessa Summers appears to have everything—a successful career as a wellness coach, a high-profile engagement to tech mogul Jackson Dalton, and a lifestyle built on luxury and influence. Yet beneath the sheen of social media perfection, she feels trapped in a relationship marked by subtle cruelty and emotional control.
Jack mocks her passions and treats her ambitions with dismissive amusement. Even as she smiles for the cameras, Vanessa silently wonders whether her feelings are genuine or just a product of convenience and fear of being alone.
Her doubts deepen after witnessing her friend Sienna end a long-term relationship with confidence and relief. Vanessa begins imagining a different life, one driven by her own choices rather than Jack’s expectations.
But her hesitation to act vanishes when a crisis erupts: while leading a tech-free yoga retreat, she learns that Jaxx Coin—the cryptocurrency company Jack founded—has collapsed, wiping out billions. Jack vanishes, accused of fraud.
Shocked and blindsided, Vanessa returns to New York only to find her reputation in ruins.
As the scandal grows, Vanessa escapes to Chicago to live with her younger sister, Faith. There, she begins piecing together her life with help from old friends, particularly Gemma, who offers her a job teaching yoga at her studio.
Vanessa’s classes gain popularity, but she can’t escape the shadow of Jack’s disgrace. When journalist Fern Foxall publishes an article suggesting Vanessa was complicit or ignorant of the fraud, she faces public humiliation once again.
Even Faith, though supportive, struggles to understand the depth of Vanessa’s shame and self-blame.
Amid this turmoil, Vanessa unexpectedly runs into Sam, her college sweetheart and first love—the man who broke her heart years earlier. Their brief, chaotic reunion stirs long-buried emotions, and soon fate throws them together again.
They discover they live in the same building, reigniting old chemistry alongside unresolved resentment. Vanessa learns that Sam is now the co-founder of Solosol, a solar energy startup, and that his colleague Rekha, a poised and brilliant woman, is also his ex.
Confused by jealousy and nostalgia, Vanessa navigates their awkward, charged encounters as they dance around the possibility of rekindled love.
A series of near-misses and coincidences draw Vanessa and Sam closer. When a rat invades Faith’s apartment, Vanessa seeks Sam’s help, leading to a night of playful banter and intimacy.
Though they nearly give in to passion, both hold back, uncertain of what it would mean. The next day, Sam asks Vanessa out, and their evening of karaoke and laughter leads to a passionate kiss—until a call from Rekha interrupts them.
Vanessa leaves heartbroken, convinced Sam still belongs to his past.
Before she can process the fallout, Jack’s sister Kathryn arrives unexpectedly and insists Vanessa come with her. Blindfolded and frightened, Vanessa finds herself transported to Switzerland, where Jack is hiding.
He claims innocence and blames false rumors for Jaxx Coin’s downfall. He begs her to stay with him in exile, but Vanessa refuses, realizing she no longer loves him.
Returning to Chicago, she faces Faith’s anger but also her relief. For the first time, Vanessa begins to understand that her pattern of running—from Jack, from Sam, from herself—must end.
Her progress is shaken again when Fern releases another article—this time exposing that Vanessa’s annulment from Sam may never have been finalized. The revelation that she and Sam might still be legally married ignites public scandal and private turmoil.
When Vanessa confronts Fern, the journalist refuses to retract the story without new information. Desperate, Vanessa reveals that Jack is hiding in Switzerland, a confession that soon leaks, pulling her back into the media spotlight.
Meanwhile, Sam’s company faces its own crisis as investors question his connection to Vanessa. Rekha pressures him to distance himself from her to protect Solosol’s reputation.
Vanessa, devastated but determined, throws herself into finding redemption. Drawing on her branding experience and network of influencers, she proposes a Solosol Solstice yoga and solar energy event to reframe the company’s image.
Her idea impresses both Sam and Rekha, and it becomes a turning point in her journey from scandal survivor to empowered creator.
As Vanessa and Sam collaborate, their emotional walls begin to crumble. Sam reveals painful truths about his past—that his father’s cancer relapse drove him to withdraw from her years earlier.
Vanessa finally understands that their breakup wasn’t about indifference but fear and guilt. The honesty between them reignites their bond, and they reconcile with newfound maturity.
Their joint event, rebranded as Sun and Salutations, is a huge success. Vanessa’s leadership and authenticity win over the crowd, and the press begins portraying her positively for the first time.
Fern attempts to disrupt the event with accusations linking Sam to Jack’s crimes, but Rekha publicly shuts her down, and Sam openly declares Vanessa as his girlfriend.
Weeks later, at Solosol’s launch party, the couple celebrates both personal and professional triumphs. Rekha, once wary, acknowledges Vanessa’s strength and agrees to a respectful truce.
Later that night, Sam surprises Vanessa with a new tattoo matching her old Dolly Parton ink, symbolizing their rekindled bond. He then confesses startling news: their marriage was never annulled due to a clerical error.
Laughing through disbelief, they accept it as destiny rather than inconvenience.
In the final chapter of Vanessa’s transformation, she opens a new branch of House of Om, her yoga studio, co-owning it alongside friends and mentors who once lifted her when she fell. Faith announces her new job, Rekha and Sam continue thriving with Solosol, and Vanessa finally feels at peace.
Amid the celebration, news breaks that Jack has returned to the United States to stand trial, signaling the true end of a painful chapter.
As the evening closes, Sam presents Vanessa with her old Vegas wedding ring and proposes again—not for reinvention, but to affirm the love that endured despite everything. Surrounded by laughter, family, and hope, Vanessa realizes she has reclaimed her voice, her heart, and her freedom.
Her story ends not in escape but in return—to herself, to truth, and to love that was always waiting to be made whole.
Characters
Vanessa Summers
Vanessa Summers, the central figure in Both Things Are True, is a complex portrayal of a woman caught between self-perception, public scrutiny, and the pursuit of emotional truth. At the novel’s start, she embodies external success — a glamorous wellness coach living in New York and engaged to a tech mogul.
Yet beneath this polished exterior lies deep insecurity and emotional dissonance. Vanessa’s journey is one of rediscovery: her transformation from a woman defined by others’ expectations to one who reclaims her agency and identity.
Her relationship with Jack exposes her tendency to conflate stability with love, while her reunion with Sam reveals her longing for authenticity and connection. Through professional loss, public humiliation, and eventual personal triumph, Vanessa evolves from a passive participant in her life to an empowered woman who learns that strength and vulnerability can coexist.
By the novel’s end, her acceptance of both her flaws and desires reflects the title’s central theme — that contradictory truths can exist simultaneously.
Sam
Sam represents both Vanessa’s past and her potential for emotional healing. A figure defined by sincerity and quiet resilience, he contrasts sharply with Jack’s arrogance.
Initially introduced as the ghost of Vanessa’s unresolved heartache, Sam’s reappearance reignites not only romance but also the painful self-reflection she had long avoided. His backstory — a secret burden of his father’s illness, professional pressures, and failed communication — illuminates how unspoken pain can corrode relationships.
Yet Sam’s growth mirrors Vanessa’s: he learns to confront vulnerability rather than suppress it. Their rekindled relationship thrives on honesty, symbolizing redemption through understanding.
By the novel’s conclusion, Sam’s steadfast love, humility, and emotional maturity balance Vanessa’s impulsive nature, making him both her mirror and her anchor. His ultimate revelation — that their annulment was never finalized — poetically underscores the story’s theme of fate and second chances.
Jackson “Jack” Dalton
Jack Dalton is the embodiment of charisma masking corruption. As Vanessa’s fiancé, he projects power and confidence, but beneath his charm lies manipulation and moral decay.
His dismissiveness toward Vanessa’s career and interests reveals his deep-seated misogyny and need for control. When his cryptocurrency empire collapses, Jack’s disappearance and subsequent reappearance in exile strip away the illusion of success that once bound Vanessa to him.
Yet, his complexity lies in his partial humanity — his remorse and confusion suggest that he, too, is trapped by the image he created. Jack symbolizes the toxic allure of material stability and the dangers of tying self-worth to public validation.
His eventual downfall becomes the catalyst for Vanessa’s awakening, forcing her to confront not just betrayal but her own complicity in maintaining a hollow façade.
Faith Summers
Faith, Vanessa’s younger sister, is a grounding force throughout Both Things Are True. She embodies warmth, reason, and steadfast loyalty, often acting as Vanessa’s conscience when chaos reigns.
Her relationship with Vanessa oscillates between protective sisterly concern and exasperated honesty. Faith’s own journey — navigating career uncertainty and a blossoming relationship with Marisa — parallels Vanessa’s path to self-discovery, though on a quieter scale.
Through Faith, the novel underscores the significance of familial love as an anchor amid emotional storms. She reminds Vanessa that support and empathy, not image or success, define genuine strength.
Faith’s nurturing nature and humor balance the novel’s tension, offering the protagonist the emotional stability she had long sought in romantic partners.
Rekha Agarwal
Rekha Agarwal, Sam’s business partner and former romantic interest, serves as both an obstacle and a mirror for Vanessa. Ambitious, intelligent, and fiercely protective of her company, Rekha embodies a different kind of female strength — pragmatic and unapologetic.
Her initial hostility toward Vanessa stems from professional caution and residual feelings for Sam, but her eventual respect for Vanessa signals growth and understanding. Rekha’s arc illustrates the complexity of female dynamics in professional and emotional spaces, showing that rivalry can evolve into mutual recognition.
Her decisive handling of the Solosol crisis and her willingness to acknowledge Vanessa’s contributions make her one of the novel’s most grounded and multidimensional secondary characters.
Fern Foxall
Fern Foxall, the ambitious journalist, acts as a modern antagonist in Both Things Are True, representing the invasive power of media and the fragility of reputation. Her investigative zeal blurs ethical boundaries, transforming her into both a catalyst for conflict and a reflection of society’s obsession with scandal.
Through Fern, the novel explores how narratives can be weaponized, especially against women, in the court of public opinion. Yet Fern’s persistence also propels Vanessa toward truth and closure, indirectly forcing her to reclaim her story.
Fern’s final confrontation — attempting to exploit Vanessa’s ties to Jack — reinforces the moral ambiguity of journalism and the dangers of conflating exposure with justice.
Sienna and Gemma
Sienna and Gemma, Vanessa’s close friends, function as emotional bookends to her journey. Sienna’s decision to end her own stagnant relationship early in the novel sparks Vanessa’s introspection, illustrating the courage required to walk away from comfort.
Gemma, on the other hand, provides Vanessa with refuge and professional renewal in Chicago. Their loyalty and support showcase the transformative power of female friendship — a recurring motif in Kathleen Barber’s narrative.
Both characters reinforce Vanessa’s evolution from dependency to self-reliance, showing that community, not romance, often provides the truest form of healing.
Marisa
Marisa, Faith’s girlfriend, enters the story as a minor yet significant presence, symbolizing acceptance and progress. Her calm demeanor and pragmatic advice complement Faith’s emotional warmth.
Through Marisa’s relationship with Faith, the novel broadens its exploration of love, emphasizing that fulfillment stems not from grand gestures or material success but from mutual respect and authenticity. Her encouragement for Vanessa to open her own studio encapsulates the book’s underlying message — empowerment through self-belief and creation rather than validation from others.
Themes
Identity and Self-Worth
Vanessa Summers’ journey in Both Things Are True is fundamentally about rediscovering her sense of identity after years of compromising it for others. In her relationship with Jack Dalton, she molds herself into a version of womanhood that fits his image—elegant, restrained, and compliant—while suppressing her authentic, vibrant nature.
Jack’s dismissive behavior toward her career and interests becomes symbolic of how she internalizes external validation as a measure of self-worth. When the Jaxx Coin scandal destroys the illusion of stability, Vanessa is stripped of all the social and material markers that once defined her.
This loss, though devastating, forces her to confront who she is without the filters of luxury, social approval, or romantic attachment. Her work at the Chicago yoga studio becomes the anchor through which she rebuilds confidence, independence, and creative purpose.
The journey of rediscovering herself also involves learning to accept imperfections—acknowledging that her past mistakes, her need for love, and her ambition can coexist without canceling one another out. The process is not linear; it includes moments of regression and self-doubt.
Yet by the end, Vanessa’s identity feels self-generated rather than performative. She is no longer the reflection of her partners’ success but the author of her own narrative.
The novel’s title—Both Things Are True—echoes this theme: one can be flawed and still worthy, lost and still capable of being found. Vanessa’s evolution from dependency to self-possession is the emotional heart of the story and the source of her ultimate liberation.
Love, Forgiveness, and Second Chances
The relationship between Vanessa and Sam embodies the complexity of love that survives time, distance, and error. Their reconnection is not framed as a fairy-tale reunion but as an exploration of whether two people can grow individually and still meet again with clearer hearts.
Their earlier marriage, impulsive and youthful, collapsed under immaturity and silence. Yet the reappearance of Sam in Vanessa’s life years later is less about rekindling passion and more about confronting unresolved pain.
Love here is not idealized—it demands vulnerability, humility, and forgiveness. Vanessa must forgive herself for abandoning their relationship and Sam for his evasions and emotional withdrawal.
Through conversations about their past, they begin to rebuild trust, exposing wounds that never fully healed. The revelation that their annulment was never processed and that they are still legally married serves as a metaphor for how deeply their lives remained intertwined despite physical separation.
Love, for them, becomes an act of courage—the decision to stay when escape feels easier. In forgiving each other, they also forgive the versions of themselves that were too afraid to communicate.
The theme culminates in a mature understanding that love’s endurance depends not on perfection but on persistence and honesty. Their final reunion, grounded in mutual respect and equality, contrasts starkly with Vanessa’s earlier dependence on Jack.
It signifies that real love is not about being completed by another person but about being seen and accepted as whole.
Power, Gender, and Control
Throughout Both Things Are True, power operates as both a social and emotional force, shaping how characters assert themselves or are diminished by others. Jack Dalton’s relationship with Vanessa reveals the subtler forms of control that exist beneath the surface of privilege.
His wealth and charisma grant him authority not only over his professional world but also over Vanessa’s sense of worth. His condescending remarks about her tattoo, career, and interests serve as emotional microaggressions that reinforce patriarchal dynamics—reminding her that her value depends on his approval.
The collapse of Jaxx Coin exposes how this imbalance extends beyond gender into the larger structure of capitalist deceit, where image and confidence often mask moral rot. Vanessa’s eventual rejection of Jack is not simply a romantic decision; it is a reclamation of agency.
Similarly, Rekha’s character represents another layer of this theme: a powerful woman navigating a male-dominated tech landscape who must balance professionalism and emotional restraint. Her tension with Vanessa initially appears rooted in jealousy but ultimately reflects the societal pressure on women to compete for legitimacy rather than collaborate.
The novel critiques how women’s identities are often filtered through the men they are associated with—whether as fiancée, ex-wife, or business partner—and portrays Vanessa’s emancipation as a refusal to let her narrative be written by male power. By the end, control is redefined: not as domination, but as self-governance—the freedom to make one’s own choices without apology.
Redemption and Renewal
At its core, Both Things Are True is a story of personal redemption through acceptance and action. Vanessa’s downfall—public humiliation, financial collapse, and emotional ruin—creates the foundation for genuine renewal.
Unlike many redemption arcs that rely on grand gestures, hers is rooted in small, deliberate acts: teaching yoga again, repairing her relationship with Faith, confronting Fern Foxall, and finally owning her professional capabilities. Each step away from shame is an act of self-restoration.
The novel also examines redemption in relationships. Sam’s willingness to revisit his mistakes, acknowledge past avoidance, and reveal painful truths about his father’s illness signifies emotional maturity.
Their reconciliation is not about returning to a past state of love but transforming it into something wiser and more resilient. Redemption here is presented as cyclical—it involves falling apart, reflecting, and reconstructing meaning with deeper integrity.
The establishment of the Solosol Solstice event embodies this renewal thematically: a literal celebration of light after darkness, symbolizing rebirth and purpose. The closing scene, where Vanessa and Sam embrace their unbroken marriage, encapsulates a belief that life’s second chances are earned through vulnerability and courage.
In reclaiming her dignity and shaping a life aligned with her values, Vanessa proves that redemption is not about erasing the past but learning to live truthfully alongside it.