Summary

In Chapter 1, the narrator, Alice B. Toklas, relates that she was born in San Francisco, California, to a wealthy family. Her maternal grandfather had come to California in 1849, and her father came from Polish stock and a family history, which included those who fought for Napoleon.

Alice enjoyed needlework, gardening, paintings, furniture, tapestries, and nature. When Alice was nineteen, she was a great admirer of Henry James and wrote to the author suggesting she dramatize his novel The Awkward Age. In her twentieth year, Alice became interested in music and lived a life with many interests for six years until the San Francisco fire took place following the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. After the fire, Gertrude Stein's older brother came to visit Alice's family and his wife brought with her three small Matisse paintings. Alice made her acquaintance and through hearing...