Summary

In Chapter 1, Lily Bloom, the main character and narrator of the novel, sits on the roof of a building in Boston after she delivered what she considered to be a disastrous eulogy for her father, Andrew Bloom. She describes herself as an embarrassment to her family because she once fell in love with a homeless man.

Lily’s peace is shattered when an angry man joins her on the rooftop. He takes his frustration out on one of the deck chairs before he realizes Lily is there. When he speaks to her, Lily feels his voice in her stomach. He asks her to get down from the ledge on which she is sitting. He says that she is three inches from death and he has had enough of that for one day.

Lily learns that the man, Ryle Kincaid, is a resident...