Summary

Chapter One begins with Leiris who refers to himself as Papa, reading at home after putting his 17-month-old son Melvil to bed. Melvil’s mother is not home. Leiris receives a text message, which he initially ignores, asking if he is safe. He soon learns that there has been a terrorist attack at the Bataclan, the club where Leiris’s wife Hélène was attending a concert. Panicked after she does not answer his calls, Leiris wants to leave his apartment to search for Hélène, but realizes he cannot do so, because he must stay with Melvil. Only after his brother, sister, and mother-in-law arrive, is Leiris able to leave with his brother to search the city’s hospitals for Hélène. The two drive around Paris until seven in the morning, unable to...