Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses death by suicide.

Cecilia Brady, the 18-year-old daughter of Hollywood producer Pat Brady, opens the novel in first-person voice, recounting her father’s deep involvement in the movie business. Reflecting on her time at Bennington College, she notes the disdain some teachers hold for Hollywood and reflects on Hollywood’s elusive nature, only truly understood by a select few. She often travels coast to coast, thoughts of her deceased sister, Eleanor, accompanying her on the journey.

During a plane ride back to Los Angeles, she observes two passengers—one distinctly Hollywood, the other vaguely familiar. In the dimly lit, swaying plane, the passengers linger aimlessly, prompting the stewardess to question “why she was there” (16). The stewardess stops by to check on Cecilia and they begin to discuss a famous actress, who had flown this route before and had discussed her fears about the political climate during “the very lowest time of the depression” with the stewardess (16). While they talk, the stewardess says Cecilia’s name, prompting the man across the aisle to realize who she is, and introduce himself and his companion as friends of Cecilia’s father.