In New York City, 1913, Laura Lyons enters the seven-room apartment she occupies with her husband, Jack, and two children directly above the New York Public Library. After managing an estate 60 miles north of Manhattan, Jack accepts a job as superintendent of the library, and the Lyons move back to the city. One evening, Laura announces to Jack that she’s been accepted to the Columbia University School of Journalism, but he regrets that they can’t afford the tuition. She argues that a second income would allow him to quit his job and write full time, but Jack insists the endeavor is too expensive. Later that evening, Laura encounters Jack’s boss, Dr. Anderson, who asks about her enrollment status. When she tells him that they can’t afford enrollment, Anderson, who wrote a “glowing” recommendation on her behalf, is disappointed. Three days later, he summons her and Jack to his office.

The novel cuts to 1993, as Sadie Donovan enters the New York Public Library, irritated by the wave of tourists who, in her opinion, don’t appreciate the library’s scholarly value. She and her colleague, Claude (whose advances she has recently rebuked), prepare for an upcoming exhibit of the library’s Berg Collection, but Marlene, the collection’s curator (and Sadie’s mentor) is missing.