Elsie Porter is the protagonist and the novel’s first-person narrator. She is 26 years old in the narrative present and living in Los Angeles, California. Elsie is an only child who has never had a close relationship with her parents. Her parents are both doctors and always wanted Elsie to follow their path. Instead, Elsie moved to Los Angeles for college and pursued a degree in library science. These bold, individualistic decisions created a larger distance between her and her parents. Elsie doesn’t mourn this disconnection with her mom and dad but instead builds a life of her own that she’s proud of. She “love[s] [her] apartment,” because she’s “worked hard to afford it and decorate it” (32). The space represents the independence she’s established for herself, and she therefore enjoys spending time there alone. She wants to meet her soulmate and create a life with a loving partner, but she doesn’t pursue casual dating. She instead devotes her time to her job at the Los Angeles Public Library, spending time with her best friend Ana Romano, and reading and watching television at home alone.

Elsie’s life and her sense of self change after she meets and falls in love with Ben Ross.