Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses sexual abuse, incest, and family violence.

The novel begins with a prologue in which the main narrator, Tyler or “Nurse Tyler,” explains that he is writing down this story so he can relay it to an individual named Asha Ramchandin. He also notes that as the storyteller, his aim is not to center himself. However, he states that “I cannot escape myself, and being a narrator who also existed on the periphery of the events, I am bound to be present” (3).

After this brief prologue, Tyler begins by relating the day he arrived in Paradise, a town on the island of Lantanacamara. A dark cloud was hanging low over the town, which was abnormally quiet. The cloud seemed to symbolize the scandal that overshadowed Tyler’s arrival, which might have been viewed as scandalous itself as he was the only male nurse on Lantanacamara. Tyler describes his introduction to his workplace, the Paradise Alms House, and how although he is a fully trained and educated nurse, he was given only manual labor and chores to complete for his first few weeks.

Everything changed for Tyler after Mala Ramchandin, the subject of the aforementioned scandal, arrived on a stretcher, escorted by several police officers.