Summary

Chapter 1: The novel opens with 30-year-old office worker Veblen Amundsen-Hovda walking down Tasso Street in Palo Alto, California with her boyfriend, 35-year-old neurologist Paul Vreeland. Paul proposes to Veblen, presenting a large diamond engagement ring, and Veblen says yes. Later, in Veblen’s cottage on Tasso Street, they hear squirrels in the attic. In the morning, a squirrel greets Veblen in the window, which pleases Veblen. She calls her mother, tells her about the squirrel, and then about the engagement. Her mother is shocked and expresses worry, especially since she and Paul have never been introduced.

The narrative then presents a flashback of Veblen and Paul’s first meeting. They meet in the Stanford Hospital, where Paul works as a neurologist and where Veblen works temporarily as an office worker. She deliveres a piece of mail to him in his lab, where he...