Summary

In Chapter 1, Harry August was preparing to die in hospital at the age of 78, in his eleventh life, in the year 1996, when he was interrupted by a 7-year-old German girl. The girl had come to tell Harry that the world was ending. Harry asked her why that mattered and she replied that the end of the world was getting faster and that he must stop it.

In Chapter 2, Harry explained the story of his birth in 1918. His father was Rory Hulne, a wealthy landowner in North East England who raped Harry’s mother while she was working as his kitchen maid. Harry’s mother was fired when it became apparent she was pregnant and later gave birth to Harry in the women’s restroom at Berwick train station. The Hulne family covered up the scandal by having Harry adopted by their grounds man, Patrick...