Twilight (Twilight Saga 1) by Stephenie Meyer

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Description

Deeply sensuous and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite. Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever... read more

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis

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Summary

When the beautiful, introverted, clutzy Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the remote, wet town of Forks, Washington, she's only doing it to go live with her single dad, town sheriff Charlie. But when she arrives at the local high school, she finds herself immediately drawn to the... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters

Bella Swan: is a clumsy, accident-prone teenage girl who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie. Though many boys are attracted to her when she arrives, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious boy she discovers to be a vampire.
Edward Cullen: was born on June 20, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, and is frozen in his 17-year-old body. While dying of the Spanish influenza, he was changed into a vampire by Dr. Carlisle Cullen after Edward's mother, Elizabeth, begged him to save Edward as her dying wish. Edward only drinks animal blood and has the special ability to read minds, with the exception of Bella Swan's.
Alice Cullen: is the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive sister of Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett, and mate of Jasper. Alice is described as being petite and pixie-like, with a graceful gait and hair that is short, spiky, and black. Her special ability is to see the future, an enhanced version of her ability to have premonitions as a human. However, her ability is limited; she is only able to see the outcome of a decision once it is made. Due to this, decisions made in the spur of the moment can not be foreseen.
Jasper Hale: is the adopted son of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive brother of Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie, and mate of Alice - he takes the name Hale to pass as Rosalie's sibling. He was born in Texas and joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 to serve in the Civil War. Due to his extremely charismatic personality, he ascended through the ranks quickly. Jasper was turned into a vampire in 1863 by a vampire named Maria when he was 20 years old. As a vampire, he gained the ability to manipulate the emotions of those around him. Recognizing his high rank in the army, Maria decided to change him into a vampire to help her claim territory in Monterrey. Jasper's responsibility was to train young vampires and then kill them when they were no longer useful (about a year after their transformation- when their strength began to fade). After about a century of this, he grew weary of the lifestyle and joined an old friend, Peter, and his mate Charlotte. Jasper left the two eventually, not wanting to feed on humans because he could feel his prey's emotions as they died. Alice, foreseeing that they would be together, met him in a half-empty diner in Philadelphia, and together they sought out the Cullen family. Due to his past, where he was able to feed on humans whenever he chose, Jasper lacks strong self-control. He is described as tall with honey blond hair, and is muscular but lean. His body is covered with crescent-shaped scars, after the many years of fighting and training newborn vampires.
Dr. Carlisle Cullen: is Esme's husband and Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper's adoptive father. At his physical age of 23, Carlisle is described to look like a model; he has blond hair, and is slender but muscular. Carlisle theorizes that when a human is turned into a vampire, they will have an enhanced ability from their previous life. He believes he brought compassion from his human life. Carlisle has had centuries to perfect his medicinal talents, therefore making him an excellent doctor. Unlike most vampires, he is not at all tempted by the scent of human blood, due to the over 300 years he has spent holding back his temptations. Carlisle Cullen was the son of an Anglican pastor, born in 1640s London, England, during a time of religious upheaval. His father and other pastors hunted creatures such as witches, werewolves, and vampires, often mistaking humans for them. As his father grew older, Carlisle assumed his role. One night, he was attacked by a vampire and left to die on the streets. Knowing he would be rejected by society, he hid himself and silently endured the painful transformation, emerging as a vampire. Horrified by what he had become, he tried killing himself many different ways, but all failed due to his power. One night, unable to endure hunger any longer, he fed on some passing deer. Subsequently realizing he could avoid feeding on humans, he committed himself to resisting his blood lust and to becoming a doctor
Esme Cullen: is Carlisle Cullen's wife and the adoptive mother of Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. She enjoys restoring old houses and her physical age is 26. She has no special power, but has a strong ability to love passionately. Esme is described as having caramel-colored hair; she also has a heart-shaped face with dimples, and her figure is slender, but rounded and soft. Esme was born in 1895 in Columbus, Ohio, where she was treated at the age of 16 by Carlisle after breaking her leg when climbing a tree. She married Charles Evenson, but was abused by him. After finding out she was pregnant, she ran away and gave birth to a son, who subsequently died a few days later. Grief-stricken by his death, Esme attempted to kill herself by jumping off a cliff. Presumed dead, she was brought to a morgue. Carlisle, who remembered treating her years before, was able to sense her heartbeat and transformed her into a vampire. Esme fell in love and married Carlisle soon after. She loves her adoptive children as much as she did her own son, but still grieves that she is unable to bear children.
Emmett Cullen: is Rosalie's mate, Carlisle and Esme's adopted son, and Edward, Alice, and Jasper's adoptive brother. Emmett is described as being tall, burly, extremely muscular, and, to most humans, the most intimidating of his adoptive siblings. He has slightly curly dark hair and dimpled cheeks. Emmett was 20 and living in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1935 when he was mauled by a bear. The injuries from the attack were severe and he was found by Rosalie, who had been hunting in the area at the time. Rosalie, who was reminded of her friend's baby having the same curls, dimples, and innocent appearance, carried him over a hundred miles to Appalachia where Carlisle Cullen was, asking him to spare Emmett's life by turning him into a vampire. Emmett joined Carlisle's coven, but initially had trouble adjusting to the family's diet of animal blood
Rosalie Hale: is the adopted daughter of Esme and Carlisle, adoptive sister of Edward, Alice, and Jasper, and mate of Emmett. Her physical age is 18, and she was born in 1915 in Rochester, New York, as the daughter of a banker. Rosalie is described as being the most beautiful person in the world, even for a vampire; she is tall, statuesque, and has long, wavy blonde hair. As a human, Rosalie was described as a woman who had beauty, elegance, class, and eyes resembling violets. Royce King II took an interest in her and soon the two became engaged. Rosalie was extremely envious of her good friend Vera and her baby boy and, while on a visit, noticed that she did not share the same relationship with Royce as Vera did with her husband. Dismissing it, Rosalie later walked home and met an intoxicated Royce and his friends. Royce bragged about his fiancée's beauty, leading to her being beaten, presumably raped, and left to die. Carlisle, coming across her, decided to change her into a vampire. After her transformation, she tortured and killed those who had beaten her, including Royce, but did not drink their blood.
James: is depicted as a merciless "tracker" vampire who hunts human beings or, in some cases, animals, for sport. Fellow coven member Laurent says that James is unusually gifted at what he does and always gets what he wants. Unlike the Cullen family, he drinks human blood as his food source.
Victoria: A red-haired, cat-like vampire, Victoria is originally a member of James' coven. She plays a small role in the first book assisting James, her lover and coven leader, in hunting Bella Swan.
Laurent: A dark-haired, olive-toned vampire, Laurent is a member of James' coven in Twilight. When James and Victoria choose to track and murder Bella, Laurent leaves them and travels to Denali, Alaska, hoping to find solace among a coven of "vegetarian" vampires. However, he never adopts their strict diet of drinking animal blood, and "cheats" by occasionally feeding on humans.
Charlie Swan: is Bella Swan's father and works as a police officer in Forks. His hobbies include fishing with Harry Clearwater and Billy Black, as well as watching various sports on TV. Charlie married Bella's mother, Renée, just after they both graduated high school, and they soon had Bella. Renée divorced Charlie not long after and moved to Phoenix, Arizona with Bella. Bella later mentions that Charlie still has not quite gotten over her mother. He became accustomed to living alone, except when Bella visited him in the summer. When Bella is seventeen, she moves to Forks to live with him after her mother remarries.
Renee Dwyer: married Charlie Swan right after high school, but left with their baby, Bella, and divorced him soon after. Renée is an eccentric, silly person who will brave new things (like skydiving) and come to her senses later. Bella always felt that she was the mother of their relationship, having to guide Renée away from doing ridiculous things, and Renée considered Bella as her middle-aged child. After Renée remarries a much younger baseball player, Phil Dwyer, Bella unselfishly sends herself to live with her dad in Forks so that Renée and Phil can travel together. Edward describes Renée's mind as being insightful and almost childlike.
Mike Newton: is a friendly boy who initially has a crush on Bella, though Bella does not return his affections. In Twilight, he is described as a "cute, baby-faced boy" with "carefully" spiked "pale blond" hair. He crushes on Bella throughout the series and often asks her to accompany him on dates, though she always declines; he is also shown to be quite bitter and jealous over Bella and Edward's relationship. Mike's family owns a local sporting goods store, which serves as Bella's only job in the series.
Jessica Stanley: is Bella's classmate and her first friend in Forks. She informs Bella about the Cullen family on her first day at school. She tends to be more interested in Bella's popularity than Bella's actual character, and is sometimes jealous of Mike's attention toward Bella. Edward hears that Jessica's thoughts toward Bella are actually quite rude, and that she only befriended Bella to share in her attention. Jessica is described as a "chatterbox" with curly dark hair
Angela Weber: is a classmate of Bella's who is described as being a tall, shy, quiet, and very kind girl. She is revealed to be among the few of Bella's newly acquired "friends" that does not exploit Bella's appeal to their own advantage. She has light brown hair and soft brown eyes. She respects other people's space, a characteristic much appreciated by Bella and she has a gentle disposition.
Jacob Black: is Bella's best friend. He is a Quileute Native American and a werewolf. In Twilight, Jacob plays a minor role, being a forgotten childhood friend of Bella. In an attempt to learn more about Cullens, Bella flirts with Jacob, and he tells her tribe legends about them being "the cold ones", or vampires.
Billy Black: is Jacob Black's father, born and raised in La Push, and an elder of the Quileute tribe. He is described as being heavyset, having a wrinkled face and russet skin, and having black hair and black eyes. His other family members include his two daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, and his deceased wife, Sarah. Billy Black is directly descended from the last chief of the Quileute tribe, Ephraim Black, who was his grandfather. Among Billy's best friends in Forks is Bella Swan's father, Charlie Swan. Billy, who is crippled from diabetes and confined to a wheelchair, sells his truck to Charlie to give to Bella. At the end of Twilight, he employed Jacob to persuade Bella to break up with Edward Cullen. He becomes a semi-regular character throughout the remaining series.

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Memorable Quotes

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“Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.”
Bella Swan
“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.”
Edward Cullen
“When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.”
Bella Swan
“Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.”
Bella Swan
“What if I'm not the superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?”
Edward Cullen
“You are my life now.”
Edward Cullen
“So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that.”
Mike Newton
“You're intoxicated by my very presence”
Edward Cullen
“Your scent, it is like a drug to me. Like my own personal brand of heroin.”
Edward Cullen
“Do I dazzle you?”
Edward Cullen
“It was too green. An alien planet”
Bella Swan
“You don't even say hi to me.”
Bella Swan
“Hi.”
Edward Cullen
“So ready for this to be the end," he murmured, almost to himself, "for this to be the twilight of your life, though your life has barely started. You're ready to give up everything.'”
Edward Cullen
“He looks at you like... like you're something to eat.”
Mike Newton
“Twilight again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end.”
Edward Cullen
“I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me.”
Bella Swan
“So you see, Hell’s not so bad if you get to keep an angel with you”
Emmett Cullen
“"And so the lion fell in love with a lamb"”
Edward Cullen
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Setting & Important Places

Forks, Washington: This is where Bella meets her destiny: Edward Cullen. The dark, gloomy town of Forks is the ideal hiding place for vampires who wish to escape the sunlight.

Organizations

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Vampires: There are two basic groups of vampires in this book. 1. The "Vegetarian" vampires. The Cullens and the Denali Clan belong to this group. They sustain themselves on the blood of animals. 2. The "Normal" vampires. The rest of the vampires fall into this category. They suck human blood like traditional vampires do. There is a ruling class of vampires that fits under the second category, the Volturi. The Volturi govern the actions of all vampires, stepping in when needed.

First Sentence

I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

1. First Sight
2. Open Book
3. Phenomenon
4. Invitations
5. Blood Type
6. Scary Stories
7. Nightmare
8. Port Angeles
9. Theory
10. Interrogations
11. Complications
12. Balancing
13. Confessions
14. Mind Over Matter
15. The Cullens
16. Carlisle
17. The Game
18. The Hunt
19. Goodbyes
20. Impatience
21. Phone Call
22. Hide and Seek
23. The Angel
24. An Impasse
Epilogue: An Occasion

Glossary

Vegetarian Vampire: Vampires that don't feed on humans but on animals.
Creosote: Flowering bush common in the deserts of the West

Errata

When Edward is telling Carlisle's history to Bella, he says that Carlisle found a coven of true vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city. The vampires couldn't have been hidden inside the sewers because there weren't any. The sewage system was only built around 1859, and Carlisle found the vampires around 1660-1670.

Series

This is book 1 in the Twilight Saga series.

Authors & Contributors

Stephenie Meyer (Author)

First Edition

Original Language: English
Publisher: Little, Brown
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 5, 2005
ISBN: 0-316-16017-2
Page Count: Add the page count.