Summary

The novel opens in the year 1982. 22-year-old Patrick Melrose is on an airplane flying from England to New York City. Patrick was born to wealth parents of British high society. Patrick’s abusive father, David Melrose, has recently died, so Patrick is flying to New York to collect his father’s cremated remains. Patrick’s mother is unable to do so, as she is on a charity trip in Africa. On the airplane, Patrick is seated next to a gregarious American man named Earl Hammer. Earl says that he has a lot of money and enjoys spending it on travel and other luxuries. Earl mentions that he is a veteran of the Vietnam War and that he enjoyed his time as a soldier. Patrick briefly thinks of his significant other, Debbie. After Patrick received word of his father’s death, he cried and vowed...