Summary

The novel is narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator who dips in and out of many characters' minds and memories. In “Gone to Seed,” the narrator informs the reader that no one had seen Harriet Osborne, who lived at 256 Woodland Drive, since November. Harriet and her husband, Chase, were both in advertising, and they had always been the most enviable couple in Mattauk, a small island on the East Coast. In September, Chase stopped coming home, and the gardeners and cleaners stopped coming to care for the beautiful house. Harriet was spotted walking barefoot in the rain just after Halloween, but no one had seen her since, except a delivery boy who visited once a week. One day, a man named Jeremy was walking his dog outside Harriet’s house and was horrified by a huge mushroom. He called Brendon Baker, the president...