Section 1 Summary

This intellectually and structurally complex novel follows two narrative lines, each essentially telling the same story - a woman's pursuit of a mysteriously powerful artifact, a chess set known as The Montglane Service. Themes relating to the seductive power of revenge and the universal interrelationship of matter and spirit are woven into a suspenseful tapestry of multi-layered relationships and narrow escapes. The story also features fictionalized appearances by actual, historically important individuals.

Each section of the book opens with a title and a quote. The title of this section is "The Defense." The quote is from a book by philosopher and critic Northrop Frye, analyzing how characters in a great deal of literature are portrayed as being part of a quest, either on it or blocking it, and as such resemble pieces in a chess game.

It's spring in 1790. Novice nuns Mireille and...