Summary

In the prologue, in the late 1960s, a mother, a father, and their young daughter visit a beach in Big Sur in California. They walk along the beach to look for interesting rocks, but a big surge of water carries the girl out into the water. The mother and father dive in to save her. The father brings the daughter to land, but then he sees that his wife is being swept out into the ocean. Chapter 1 takes place in the early 2000s, about a year after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Celine Watkins, the novel’s main character, is a well-known private investigator who lives in New York City. She is in about 70 years old and has begun to suffer from potentially fatal lung problems due to smoking. Her parents and siblings are all deceased. She specializes in cases that involve reuniting families...