Summary

Part I, titled “father” (1) begins with the realization by sisters Grace, Lia, and Sky that their father, King, is gone, and presumably dead. Grace asks her mother if her father had been ill, and her mother replies that he was fine, adding bitterly, “As you well f—king know” (5).

Lia narrates the next chapter, noting that their father's bloodstained shoe washed up on the beach near their house. Lia cries, but Grace, who is two years older, is stoic. The family goes into mourning, and Mother gives the girls “insomnia tablets” (7) so they sleep day and night. A week later, the girls wake up and Mother tells them they must love only their sisters.

The girls gather in Mother's room, where there are irons hanging on the wall. The irons are part of a family ritual. Names are written on them, and each...