The protagonist of the novel, Marcus Goldman is a successful 28-year-old writer of a bestselling book who is now suffering from writer’s block. The unexpected triumph of his first published work has made him a star, and even though he was hoping for success, now he feels overwhelmed with the pressure of his celebrity. Marcus is as self-doubting and unsure of himself as he is impatient and arrogant on the outside. This discrepancy forms the major arc of his character’s journey: He has to learn to accept himself without pretense and conceit, and learn the truth about his own nature, and this will allow him to become the best writer (and man) he can be.

Investigating the disappearance of Nola Kellergan while trying to help his old mentor and friend Harry Quebert is the symbolic form his journey takes to self-actualization. Through learning how the little town of Somerset works on the one hand, and on the other witnessing the brutal milieu of the publishing industry, he grows to understand his position relative to those two environments. Revealing the truth behind the curtain of the crimes and behind the bluster of his publisher’s demands frees him to pursue his art and his life in a new and mature way.