The novel begins in medias res, or in the middle of the action, in a hotel room where an unnamed first-person narrator has been staying for five days. The narrator recalls getting a drink the night before and how she cried openly in the bar, much to the chagrin of the other patrons. She states that she began to cry because of “something I remembered” (10).

Sasha, the narrator, has been sent to Paris by her friend Sidonie, who shares her concerns over Sasha’s mindset and well-being because she is “getting to look old. She drinks” (11). Sidonie makes arrangements for Sasha to return to Paris, where she once lived, and purchase new clothes.

Sasha struggles to fall asleep and recalls memories of her time in Paris over a decade ago. She mentions a man named Enno and how she changed her name to Sasha years ago. Still suffering from insomnia, Sasha takes Luminal, a sleep aid, and falls asleep instantly. She dreams of traveling through a busy tube station in London. The crowded tube station displays signs that read “This Way to the Exhibition” (13). Sasha, attempting to separate from the crowd, looks for an exit; unable to find a way out, she continues to “walk along with my head bent, very ashamed, thinking: ‘Just like me—always wanting to be different from other people’” (13).