An omniscient third-person narrator begins “Indigo Bay” by laying out the geography, topography, and demographics of a Caribbean archipelago and the island of Saint X. A division between locals and vacationers is underscored even in this bird’s-eye view, as residents of Saint X live on the north side, while resorts line the south side, including “the island’s crown jewel, Indigo Bay” (4). The narrator also introduces what will become an important motif, Faraway Cay, a cay that can be seen from the shoreline at Indigo Bay. It’s known to be beautiful, with a waterfall in its center, but it’s not a common destination for the resort guests because it’s overrun with wild goats.

The narration then turns to the vacationers who visit the island. At first, these guests are spoken about as a monolith, before the narrative becomes specific in time and place: “They have no notion of the events about to unfold here, on Saint X, in 1995” (5). The narrative lens then focuses on one 18-year-old girl named Alison, who is walking along the beach. Alison is on vacation with her parents and younger sister, Claire, who is seven years old.