Prologue and Part 1: Chapters 1-2 Summary

The novel is set in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The setting is a small community where many of the residents are immigrants from Norway or the children of these immigrants, creating the sense of a small town in the center of a large metropolis. This setting is echoed in Patty Jane's home over the years, beginning with her marriage to Thor Rolvaag, the son of Norwegian immigrants.

In the prologue, Nora relates a scene in which her mother is sitting with her at a drug store counter, flirting with a man behind them. This man comes to give Patty Jane his number, announcing that he is married but likes to wander. Patty Jane rips up his number and returns her attention to her daughter. This leads to twelve-year-old Nora thinking about her father, a man who disappeared...