Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion is a novel about the nine-year association between two married couples. John Dowell is married to Florence; Captain Edward Ashburnham is married to Leonora; Florence and Edward are having an affair, with Leonora's knowledge. John does not find out about this affair until his wife's death. John narrates what he considers "the saddest story" he has ever heard to an imagined companion, as if he were telling the story by the fire one night. The Good Soldier, thus, is a novel in which events are not presented chronologically, in which there is much speculation about character motivation, and in which John—the narrator—tries to understand his life and relationships.

The American Dowells and the English Ashburnhams meet at a health spa in the city of Nauheim. Both Florence Dowell and Captain...