Content Warning: This section discusses alcohol addiction, gun violence, abortion, eating disorders, death, grief, and trauma.

The novel opens in Daniel Sullivan’s point of view as he stands in his backyard in Donegal, Ireland, in 2010. He sees a man near the edge of the property, and as he tries to make out the man’s purpose, Daniel’s wife, Claudette Wells, comes out with baby Calvin on her back and fires a shotgun into the air, scaring the potential intruder. Daniel hurries back into the house after his wife and demands to know why she has a gun. It was a gift, their daughter tells him, from a neighbor. Claudette ignores his objections and reminds him that it’s time to leave for the city. Daniel is nearly late to catch his train to give a lecture and catch a flight home to America for his father’s 90th birthday.

In the car on the way to the main road, Daniel hears a snippet of a radio interview about the death of Nicola Janks, a woman he knew in his past. The news sends him spiraling, and he discovers that she died in 1986—the last time he saw her.