The novel’s protagonist and narrator, Cedar Songmaker writes a diary from a first-person perspective in the present tense, documenting the collapse of society for the benefit of the unborn child she carries.

As an adopted child, her experience of motherhood is complex. Sera raised her, but she searches for her biological mother, Mary Potts—a quest that reflects her anxieties about her own impending maternity, as well as her conflicted sense of identity. Throughout the novel, she witnesses many variations on the concept of motherhood and gradually constructs her own understanding: Motherhood is not a mere biological reality but rather a relational one. While she may not end up living happily with her baby, her understanding of motherhood becomes part of the identity that Cedar has sought all her life, and her diary describes the journey.

After her newborn child is taken from her, Cedar’s decision to keep writing reveals that she is inherently optimistic, even if she criticizes Sera for being relentlessly positive. Cedar has evidently acquired this tenacity from her adoptive mother: She continues loving Phil, even after he betrays her; she focuses on practical solutions as society collapses; she never gives up, even as her life is endangered.