The novel’s main narrative arc chronicles Elsie Porter’s journey from heartbreak to healing after her husband’s sudden death. Elsie and Ben have only known each other for six months when Ben is killed during a tragic accident outside of Elsie’s house, but the brevity of their romance doesn’t stop Elsie from feeling overcome by sorrow as a result of his death. Her devastation is so great that it feels as if it is “coating [her] body like a blanket, sinking [her] heart like a stone” (24). As a result, Elsie becomes physically, mentally, and emotionally immobilized. She has based her entire future and identity on her relationship with Ben, and she feels as if she has lost everything in the wake of his death. Without Ben, she has no sense of self and no purpose in life. Every morning she wakes “to the ugly, disgusting world over and over again,” unsure how she will face the day and what comes after it (50). At the same time, Elsie fears getting better after Ben dies because she doesn’t want to lose him all over again. She doesn’t want to laugh and enjoy life with Ana because she thinks that doing so means she’s forgetting Ben.