Summary

The novel opens with a short preface describing a funeral in December of 2002. A decorated coffin is resting on the ground, waiting to be buried. The onlookers murmur and regard the coffin as elaborate and ostentatious as our main character, Belinda, looks on and cries. The pallbearers then strip their clothing and children bring them hammers. The men begin to pound at the coffin, damaging it and recovering the valuable metals that adorn the exterior, until the coffin is marked with deep gouges. The carefully-conducted orchestra of removing the coffin decorations is punctuated by the delighted and clumsy children that carry tools to, and trinkets from, the burial site. Belinda is unsurprised by their actions, but begins to feel uncomfortable, her blood “galloping” (x). A funeral attendee shoves her, but she stays rooted where she stands. The preface ends with a man...