Summary

In Chapter 1, seven years after ending her first marriage, Annie’s lover, Jeff, invited her to his friend Graham's bookstore opening. She had started saying yes to everything, a "way she had come to navigate the world" (4). When she met Graham, she was drawn to his imposing stature and jolly demeanor. Later in the evening, Graham asked to walk her home. Though Annie felt an electricity between them, she went home with Jeff. The next day she visited Graham at the store. Thus began their relationship.

Because she liked him so much, in the early days of their affair, Annie used other men "as a way to resist Graham" (12). Eventually she committed, and they married a year later.

In Chapter 2, almost 30 years later, Graham remembers his first marriage to Frieda. She divorced him not long after they opened their marriage. He blames himself...