Catherine Anne McKenna

Catherine is an Irish composer who finds it difficult to talk about music. She currently lives in Glasgow. Catherine lives in the basement of her friend's home with her baby, Anna. The book begins with Catherine going to Ireland for her father's funeral. Catherine is an only child and has a strained relationship with her parents. She attends the funeral, having not told her parents about her child. She hasn't spoken to her parents in more than a year.

Catherine is numb throughout most of the first part of the book. She is reeling from both her depression and her father's death. The first part of the book introduces Catherine's earliest memories of music and how they are directly related to her family. Her father explains music to her in biased terms. According to him, all modern music is not real music. He also tells her...