Summary

In Chapter 1, the first-person narrator introduces herself as Thursday, named for the day of the week she sees her husband. She thinks about her situation, that her husband, Seth, has two other wives, as she sets a perfect table for their dinner. Seth spends Monday and Tuesday with his other wives, known only by Thursday by their days of the week.

When Seth arrives, Thursday is impressed with herself because she manages to sexually arouse Seth in less than two minutes, a statistic she wonders if the other wives can beat. They have sex before they even eat the elaborate dinner that Thursday has prepared. Seth asks Thursday where she wants to go when they take the vacation that he has been promising her for years.

Seth tells Thursday that Monday is sick with the baby. Thursday is briefly jealous. Seth does not...