Summary

In Chapter 1, Louisa, a teenager who believes adults are “the worst kind of humans,” sneaks into an elite art auction held in a former church (7). She enters through a bathroom window with spray paint in her backpack, intending to vandalize a famous painting. The wealthy guests are comically oblivious, too absorbed in their own vanity, investments, and mirrors to notice her. Louisa blends into the crowd despite her deep insecurities about her body, voice, and nervousness.

She becomes furious as she watches the rich speak about paintings as commodities, caring only about price tags and resale value. Their hypocrisy intensifies when they dismiss graffiti as not being real art. Louisa’s anger culminates when she reaches The One of the Sea: a painting by the reclusive artist C. Jat, which wealthy buyers covet in hopes that the artist will die and make it...