Summary

​​In Part One, Chapter 1, "The Itch," towards the end of college, Suleika began itching all over. The itch was “a literal, physical itch" (3). She was constantly tired. She tried explaining these symptoms away. After graduation, she moved to New York City. She shared a diminutive apartment with several roommates. She drank heavily and did drugs. Eventually she realized she "needed to clean up [her] act" (7). She would move to Paris. Shortly before securing a paralegal job in France, she met a man named Will. After spending an evening together, Suleika wished she "weren't moving to a different continent" (10).

In Chapter 2, "Métro, Boulot, Dodo," when Suleika arrived in Paris, she felt relieved. Though her apartment was tiny, "it seemed palatial" (11). She had it all to herself. Her Parisian life soon felt less like "the fantasy" than she had "imagined" (13). She worked...