Chapters 1 & 2 Summary

The novel opens with the narrator, an unnamed boy, discussing what makes French women so alluring in photographs. He calls the classic look on their faces, the slightly pursed lips, "petite pomme." Through exploring this look, the narrator recounts memories of all the strong women in his life, although none are yet named. Finally, the narrator introduces his maternal grandmother, the daughter of Norbert and Albertine Lemonnier.

Throughout his life, the narrator recalls visiting his French grandmother in Russia, where she lived after marrying a man from Moscow. The narrator spends a lot of his time flipping through old family photographs. One day he comes across a photograph of a scruffy-looking woman wearing a man's shapka, clutching a baby to her breast. The rest of the people in the photograph seem to glide by in elegant clothing. When the grandmother, whom the narrator...