Bear

Bear (2024) by Julia Phillips tells the story of Sam and Elena, two sisters whose challenging lives are suddenly shaken by the presence of a black bear near their island home. The bear causes a rift between the sisters as Elena becomes increasingly fascinated with it and longs for sightings of it, while Sam fears the bear and the hold it takes on Elena. The sisters’ bond and their respective aims for the future ebb and flow as they reckon with both the bear’s presence and a life shaped by the demands of caring for their terminally ill mother.

The novel is Phillips’s second and was published to critical acclaim. Her first novel, Disappearing Earth, was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year. Like Bear, it explores familial bonds and the importance of community. Phillips’s essays and other nonfiction have appeared in publications such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and The Los Angeles Times.

This guide refers to the 2024 hardcover edition published by Hogarth.

Content Warning: The book and this guide discuss domestic abuse, child abuse, gun violence, animal violence, death, grief, and terminal illness.

Plot Summary

Sam and Elena Arthur are sisters in their late twenties and live on San Juan island off the coast of Washington State in the US. Sam sells concessions on the ferry, while Elena works at a golf course. They stretch their meager earnings to cover their mother’s health care expenses. She is a former nail technician and is now dying of a pulmonary condition. One day, Sam sees a bear swimming in the channel. She excitedly tells Elena about it that evening. The next day, Sam finds scat outside their home, though she’s unable to identify the animal it came from. The next morning, the bear is sitting in their yard. The sisters call animal control and watch the bear from inside the house, filled with excitement and fear. The sheriff arrives, but the bear is gone, and he surmises that it likely moved on, en route to Canada.

Sam excitedly tells coworkers about the bear; one of them, Ben, is her age and has repeatedly invited her out on dates, but Sam refuses. Elena spots the bear again while walking home from work, and Sam begins to worry. When she receives a phone call from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wanting details about the bear to log the encounter, Sam agrees to allow an agent to visit their home, though she knows that Elena would disapprove.

As Sam and Elena go about their mundane workdays, flashbacks reveal their idyllic childhood, which Sam relishes. Though always poverty stricken, the sisters and their mother were always close, sharing an important bond. Sam and Elena’s childhood on the island was magical until their mother invited an abusive boyfriend into their lives. Not until he was finally made to leave when the sisters were teens did their home become a safe haven again, though his violence left a lasting impact. Their home, which their late grandmother purchased, is their only valuable asset, and they plan to sell it after their mother dies in order to leave the island. Amid the stress of taking her mother to doctor’s appointments, Sam daydreams about a more prosperous life on the mainland. Their mother’s health continues to decline, and doctors inform the three that her death is inevitable.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife agent, Madeline Petitt, visits their home while Elena is at work and finds evidence of bear scat and urine, along with damage the bear did to the bottom of the house’s exterior. She warns the sisters not to engage with the bear and especially not to feed it because these actions embolden a bear and cause it to become a threat to humans—and indirectly to itself when humans insist that a nuisance bear be euthanized. Sam wants to keep Petitt’s visit a secret from Elena, but Elena unexpectedly comes home and speaks with Petitt, downplaying the bear sightings and angering Sam.

Over the next few weeks, Elena spots the bear occasionally as she walks to and from work. Sam urges Elena to get rides from a coworker, and Elena sometimes does. She assures Sam that the bear won’t harm her, that it’s magical, and that its appearance in their lives is special. Sam, meanwhile, takes extra shifts and overtime when she can and begins a sexual relationship with Ben. Sightings of the bear in the town increase, and some report that it’s killing local sheep.

While driving home from work one day, Sam sees Elena approach the bear. She confronts Elena, who is adamant that the bear means no harm. She offers to “introduce” Sam to the bear; this encounter, a few days later, only heightens Sam’s panic. She phones Agent Petitt for instructions on deterring the bear, and Petitt suggests bear spray.

Ben tags along to shop for bear spray, but the outing ends in a fight: He’s frustrated because she considers his life easy since she depends on her meager job for survival. Ben suggests that she move off of the island with him when the summer ends, but Sam refuses. Meanwhile, their mother has several difficult nights as her breathing worsens. She passes away one night while both sisters are asleep; Elena finds her body when she wakes during the night to check on her.

Elena is prepared to handle the tasks that follow, and she plans a small memorial at the clubhouse of the golf course where she works. Sam is angry, certain that their mother wouldn’t want this. On the day of the memorial, Sam is further angered to find both their neighbor—Danny Larsen, a former classmate who has since tried to help the women with house repairs—and Agent Petitt in attendance. Danny proves useful, however, when he successfully and peacefully convinces their mother’s abusive ex-boyfriend—who arrived unexpectedly—to leave.

Sam is ready to place the house on the market and take steps to move off the island, enacting the plan that she and Elena settled on. When she asks Elena about selling the house, however, Elena is confused: She has no plans to do so. In fact, she explains, they can’t sell it because she took out a second mortgage on it to cover their mother’s medical expenses, and an attempt to sell would result in the bank repossessing it. The sisters argue: Sam is frustrated with Elena breaking her promise to move off the island and increasingly worries about Elena, who confessed to feeding the bear. However, Elena insists that she never intended to sell the house or move; she merely played along with Sam’s daydreams, assuming that they were merely innocent and meaningless “what ifs.” In addition, Sam learns that Elena is in a relationship with Danny, a secret that she kept from Sam for some time.

The argument deepens the divide between the sisters: Elena is angry about Sam’s desire to leave, and Sam feels lied to and experiences fear and exasperation over Elena’s insistence on getting close to the bear and her irrational insistence that it’s a magical gift in her life. Sam confides in Danny, who shares Sam’s fears. Determined to rid their lives of the bear, she asks Agent Petitt for help; however, Petitt contacts the sheriff upon learning that Elena has been baiting the bear. A fine is issued to Elena, escalating the conflict between the sisters.

With Danny’s guidance, Sam makes plans to shoot the bear. Danny proceeds with caution, knowing that Sam has no experience with firearms. Elena draws out the bear, but in the confusion, the bear kills Elena when they shoot at it. The state authorities later euthanize the bear.

After Elena’s death, Ben convinces Sam to leave the island with him for Oregon. As the novel closes, they board the ferry for the mainland.