Part 1: Chapter 1 Summary

It is 1952, and Jack Lovett is telling Inez Victor about atom bomb tests, first in the islands of the Pacific, then in Nevada, and last of all in the Aleutians; Jack had witnessed all of them. Inez is a high-school student, and the two are seeing each other without her family's knowledge. Later, they will see each other in Jakarta in 1969 and in Honolulu in 1975. The last chapters of the story take place in 1975, when Vietnam is being evacuated.

Part 1: Chapter 1 Analysis

This novel begins at the end and then fills in the beginning and the middle. The chronological flashing back and forth throughout the book sometimes makes it difficult to know exactly where the action is taking place, though the use of dates throughout helps the reader to keep track and to understand the story. In this first chapter, Didion...