Summary

Prologue (1-6) — Lily, the novel’s first-person narrator, reflects on her childhood best friend, Eva, and wonders whether or not her connection with Eva is spiritual, instinctive, or happenstance. Cryptically, Lily remembers her time with Eva’s family, the Trenthams, citing their years of sisterly and familial bond. But then, Lily foreshadows that her life with the Trenthams “fell apart” (1).

The novel is set in 1985, and Lily has just received a letter from Eva. The two have not spoken in years. In Eva’s letter, she apologizes to Lily for what had happened between them, though does not specify as to what that is. The letter also invites Lily to attend her father’s retrospective art gallery. This letter disturbs Lily, as she and Eva share a traumatic event that has lead to this separation, yet Lily does not...