Summary

In the prologue, the author introduces Jay Eaves as he visits Berlin to reunite with his mother, Yukiko Oyama, who abandoned him when he was a baby. Jay's father has recently died, and he has come to tell Yuki that she inherited his house and must sign the deed. She asks about her son, and the chapter ends without providing Jay's response.

The novel then shifts to Yuki's perspective. It is 1968 and she is 16 years old, living in New York City's West Village with her parents. Her father was transferred there from Tokyo for work when Yuki was a little girl. They are scheduled to return to Japan in six months. Yuki likes art, she has a postcard reproduction of a Viennese oil painting on her wall. As the action of the story begins, she is in a store...