Summary

The Music of Chance opens with the focus on the protagonist, Jim Nashe, a firefighter in Boston, Massachusetts. He is approached one day by a lawyer who tells him that Nashe’s father is dead and that he has bequeathed Nashe $200,000 in his will. Nashe is surprised because he has not seen or contacted his father in over 30 years. Nashe’s wife Thérèse recently left him, and he had subsequently taken his daughter Juliette to Minnesota to be raised by his sister. After receiving the inheritance, Nashe quits his job at the fire station. He decides not to reclaim custody of his daughter, as he believes her life will be better if she is raised by his sister and her husband. Nashe begins driving out of Boston. Although he does not intend to go far, “after the second night, Nashe realized...