The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Banks, Russell. Foregone. New York: HarperCollins, 2021.

The novel opens on April 1, 2018, in Montreal, Canada. The protagonist is Leonard “Leo” Fife. He was born in the United States, but he fled to Canada in 1968, when Fife was in his late twenties. He is in his late seventies and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In Canada, he is a well-known documentary filmmaker. He asks Malcolm MacLeod—a filmmaker and former student of his—to film an interview with him. Fife asks that his wife, Emma, be present. In the interview, Fife expresses his desire to tell his life story. He says that he often lied about his pre-Canada life and kept parts of it secret. He always maintained that he fled to Canada to escape the Vietnam War draft, but that was a lie.

Fife begins by talking about his life in Virginia. He was born in Massachusetts, but he lived in Virginia from his early twenties to his late twenties. There, he was married to a woman named Alicia Chapman. They had a son named Cornel. Alicia’s father owned and operated a wealthy manufacturing company. Fife was a literature student, first in college and then in graduate school. Alicia’s father asked Fife to take over the family business, but instead, Fife accepted a job at a small college in Vermont. He traveled out of Virginia in order to finalize the purchase of a house in Vermont.

Malcolm frequently interrupts Fife, as Malcolm has difficulty following what Fife is saying. Also, Malcolm and Emma are confused as to why Fife has never spoken of these events to them before. Malcolm and Emma fear that Fife is delusional due to his illness and his medications. Fife asserts that he is not delusional. He says that he wants to tell the truth of his life before he dies. He speaks of growing up in a small town called Strafford, Massachusetts. When he was 16 years old, he and his friend Nick Dafina stole Nick’s father’s car and went on a cross-country road trip. 11 years later, as Fife was driving through Strafford on his way to Vermont, he encountered Nick. They conversed, and Nick told him about his life.

Fife confesses to Malcolm and Emma that Fife was married at age 20. His first wife, Amy, was 18 years old. They had a daughter together, after which Fife left Amy. Fife also confesses that he was never in danger of being drafted by the U.S. military, as he was declared unfit for service after failing a psychological examination. Fife continues to recall his trip to Vermont to buy the house. He stopped to visit a friend of his named Stanley. Stanley’s wife, Gloria, made a sexual advance towards Fife, which Fife accepted. Fife then fled the house, ashamed. In Vermont, he suddenly decided to flee to Canada in order to escape his life. He felt trapped by marriage and parenthood, and his love for Alicia was waning.

Fife continues to try to tell his life story, but he soon dies from the cancer. Malcolm continues to film Fife as he dies. Fife’s live-in nurse, Renée, tries to dispose of the footage, but Malcolm stops her. He edits the footage together into a documentary, which has some success in Canada, but it is never shown in any other countries.