Summary

The brief chapter “Year 2079” (the first of four chapters in the novel with this same name) is narrated by the 102-year-old poet Fiona Skinner, who is a revered emeritus figure in poetry. Despite the collapse of the outside world’s infrastructures due to environmental devastation, a large audience has gathered to hear Fiona give a rare public appearance. During a question-and-answer session, a young woman named Luna, named after a character in Fiona’s most famous poem, asks if the Luna in the poem was a real person.

Chapter 1 takes place in the year 1981, when Fiona was only four years old and living with her family (the Skinners) in rural Bexley, Connecticut. Fiona is the youngest of four children, after Joe (next-oldest, only son), Caroline, and Renee (oldest). Fiona’s father, Ellis, suddenly collapses to the ground and dies while at work...