I would open up the notebook and all the clues would already be there.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: As the novel begins, Grace explains her reasons for keeping a notebook. She often uses the notebook to take notes while her mother is telling her stories. In this moment, Grace says that she wants to be a detective, and that her notes are also clues to the ongoing mystery of her life. This moment captures Grace's distinct point of view and voice, and foreshadows coming events. Indeed, this line can be used to understand Offill's overarching narration. Each image, story, experience, and event that Grace describes throughout the narrative is indeed a clue to the mystery of her mother's disappearance at the novel's end.

Sometimes I tried to guess which of my mother's stories were true and which were not, but I was usually wrong.
-- Narrator (chapter 2)

Importance: Throughout Grace's childhood, she learns to rely upon Anna's stories...