The Hawthorne Legacy

The Hawthorne Legacy is the sequel to The Inheritance Games, a series of young adult mystery/thriller books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It continues the story of a teenage girl, Avery Kylie Grambs, who has been unexpectedly left a billion-dollar fortune by a mysterious philanthropist, Tobias Hawthorne. The Hawthorne Legacy follows Avery’s attempts to find Tobias Hawthorne II or “Toby,” Tobias’s son. The Hawthorne family thought Toby died in a fire 20 years ago, but Avery recognizes him as “Harry,” an unhoused man with whom she used to play chess. The main objective of The Hawthorne Legacy is to find Toby/Harry.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the author of several young adult novels, including another book in this series, The Final Gambit. The edition used for this study guide is from Little Brown and Company, New York, NY, published in 2021.

Plot Summary

The Hawthorne Legacy is told from the point of view of Avery Kylie Grambs, who has mysteriously inherited a billion-dollar fortune from deceased Texas billionaire Tobias Hawthorne. To claim her fortune, Avery—who grew up in poverty—must live in the luxurious Hawthorne House for a year. She can only spend three nights away from the mansion during this time, or she will forfeit the inheritance. The book picks up where its predecessor, The Inheritance Games, left off. At the conclusion of the first book, Avery discovers that Tobias’s son Toby, long presumed dead, is, in fact, still alive and living in Connecticut as Harry, an unhoused man with whom she used to play chess. However, Toby/Harry doesn’t want to be found and flees Avery’s attempts to locate him.

The primary plotline follows Avery’s attempts to find Toby/Harry while also trying to determine why he abandoned his family’s fortune. Avery uncovers Hawthorne family secrets, notably that Toby/Harry was adopted and was primarily responsible for a fire on Hawthorne Island that killed three teenagers 20 years ago. Toby/Harry barely escaped with his life. A local fisherman and a young girl, Hannah Rooney, helped nurse him back to health. Avery learns that Hannah Rooney is her deceased mother, “Sarah,” who lived under a fake name after leaving her hometown and family. Hannah and Toby/Harry were in love, which was complicated by the fact that the Hawthorne Island fire killed Hannah’s sister, Kaylie Rooney.

Although Avery briefly believes that Toby/Harry is her biological father, this is disproven via a DNA test. However, Toby/Harry was present on the night Avery was born and signed her birth certificate. Although Toby/Harry exiled himself out of guilt over the Hawthorne Island fire, he and Hannah/Sarah stayed in touch, exchanging love letters, which Avery discovers.

Avery is joined in her attempts to find Toby/Harry and figure out why he ran away by her sister, Libby Grambs, and her best friend, Maxine Liu (“Max”), as well as by the Hawthorne brothers Nash, Grayson, Jameson, and Xander—plus Xander’s friends Rebecca Laughlin and Thea Hawthorne-Calligaris. The different members of the troop of young people experience various coming-of-age stories throughout the book. For example, Grayson is forced to confront his biological father, Sheffield Grayson, an evil man who ultimately tries to kidnap and kill Avery. Sheffield mistakenly believes that Toby/Harry is Avery’s father; by kidnapping Avery, he hopes to flush Toby/Harry out of hiding and kill him. Sheffield’s motivation is that he wants revenge for the death of his nephew, Colin Anders Wright, who was one of the three teens killed in the Hawthorne Island fire.

Avery is saved by Toby/Harry and by one of the Hawthorne employees, Melissa Vincent or “Mellie.” In a final conversation with Toby/Harry, Avery learns the truth about his relationship with her mother: He was there when she was born and signed her birth certificate, but he isn’t her father. Toby/Harry makes it clear that he wants to remain incognito and flees, going back into hiding. The book concludes on an open-ended note, setting up the narrative for a sequel—The Final Gambit. Toby/Harry remains on the run and some mysteries introduced in The Hawthorne Legacy, such as the meaning of a small metal disk Toby/Harry took from Avery, remain unsolved. Presumably, these loose ends will be tied up in the series’ final installment.

The Hawthorne Legacy is largely a coming-of-age story for Avery, following her trajectory from a passive object that the Hawthorne boys view as a clue in one of their family games to an active agent, a player in the game. Her journey to adulthood symbolically culminates in her legal emancipation, which occurs in the book’s final chapter. Throughout the narrative, Avery also furthers her relationship with Jameson. By the book’s end, the two have established a meaningful romantic connection, and the book concludes with a scene of them kissing.