The novel opens with best friends Kristen Czarnecki and Emily Donovan enjoying the end of their trip to Chile. The pair travel together annually, and recently these trips have become even more meaningful as Kristen’s work has taken her to Australia while Emily has settled down in Milwaukee. Kristen and Emily met over a decade before the narrative, as college freshmen. Emily, the novel’s narrator, confesses that she needs this trip; she has been in a deep depression for the last year while Kristen has been in Australia.

As the pair enjoys a drink at a vineyard not far from their hotel, Emily contemplates telling Kristen about a man she recently began dating, but she ultimately keeps the news to herself. Emily fears that in comparison to Kristen’s free, independent personality, her own desire for a regular, stable romantic relationship will look dully conventional.

Back at the hotel, Emily recalls the early years of her friendship with Kristen. They bonded when they realized they were the only two women in their economics class. Emily credits Kristen with helping her realize how bad her relationship with her then-boyfriend, Ben, really was. He controlled and manipulated Emily, and after one of their arguments led to Ben’s physical abusiveness, she fled to Kristen’s house.