Chapter One: December Summary & Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
On New Year’s Eve in a Tribeca elevator, Cleo and Frank meet by chance. Frank, heading out for ice, invites the British artist to walk with him. They share cigarettes, pizza, and a sprawling conversation about art, family, and the gender politics of paying. Cleo reveals her mother died during her final year at Central Saint Martins and that her U.S. student visa expires in summer. Frank offers to fly them to Mexico City next week to see Frida Kahlo’s house. They walk to her East Village walk-up; she resists inviting him upstairs because she “doesn’t want to attach.” At midnight, they climb the stairwell, hold hands, and jump together to welcome the new year.
Key Events
- Cleo and Frank meet in a freight elevator at a New Year’s Eve party.
- Frank compliments Cleo’s crisp British accent, and they walk to a bodega.
- Frank buys her cigarettes, rolling papers, and a chocolate bar.
- Cleo shares that her antidepressant restored her ability to orgasm; Frank counters that he treats misery with alcohol and repression.
- They discuss her MFA, the death of her mother, and her expiring student visa.
- An argument erupts over whether Frank is trying to buy her; Cleo cites the gender pay gap, Frank says she’s simply a broke young artist.
- They reconcile over pizza and Frank spontaneously suggests a trip to Mexico City.
- At her building, Cleo shows the gold-thread dress she made and declines sex to avoid emotional attachment.
- They jump from the stairwell together at midnight.
Character Development
Cleo
Cleo is initially guarded but quickly reveals her playful, intellectually curious side. She is comfortable discussing sex and therapy yet struggles with vulnerability—she redirects personal questions. Her anxiety over deciding what to wear (she changes “a hundred times”) hints at deeper self-doubt. She wants freedom (“untethered but completely free”) but also craves connection, as shown by her decision to keep Frank in the lobby rather than invite him up.
Frank
Frank is charming, self-deprecating, and keenly observant. He presents himself as a successful ad man (“creator of monsters”) but admits to treating misery with alcohol and repression. His offer to fly Cleo to Mexico City reveals a desire for spontaneity that he lacks on his own. He pushes back against her gender essentialism, showing a willingness to engage in conflict—and to apologize. Jumping off the stairs together symbolizes his capacity for childlike risk when he feels safe.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The Elevator as a Liminal Space
The freight elevator’s metal gate and the slow ascent create a suspended moment where two strangers can speak freely. It is a confined threshold between public and private, work and play, past year and new year.
Apples and Crispness
Frank compares Cleo’s voice to a Granny Smith apple: “crisp.” Apple varieties become a running joke about accents and cultural difference. Crispness suggests freshness, precision, and a tart edge—qualities Cleo herself displays.
Art as Mess and Order
Cleo’s description of painting—emptying a cupboard, feeling chaos, then finding “a click” of peace—mirrors her emotional process. She is in the messy stage of her own life (visa expiring, mother dead) and hopes that Frank might help her find order, even briefly.
Money and Power
The argument over who pays for pizza encapsulates a central tension: Frank’s world of advertising and wealth versus Cleo’s precarious artist life. He insists paying is a learned mode of care; she sees it as a transaction that reinforces inequality.
Jumping
The final jump off the stairs is both a literal and figurative leap into the unknown. It ends the chapter on a note of shared vulnerability and hope, despite Cleo’s resistance to commitment.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 3 establishes the novel’s central relationship with economy and humor. It sets up the emotional stakes for both characters: Cleo’s homesickness and pending deportation, Frank’s loneliness masked by success. The argument about money foreshadows the imbalance that will shape their future. By ending with a joint jump, the chapter suggests that their connection might transcend practicality—or might be as fragile as a child’s game. It also introduces the motifs of art-making, emotional avoidance, and spontaneous travel that recur throughout the book.
Study Questions
1. Why does Cleo resist going upstairs with Frank? What does this reveal about her character?
Cleo explicitly says she “doesn’t want to attach” because her visa expires in a few months. Her resistance also stems from past losses (her mother, her family home). She prefers a controlled, temporary connection over risking deeper attachment that would end in pain.
2. The argument about who pays for pizza touches on both gender politics and class. How does Frank’s counterargument reflect his own worldview?
Frank argues that men use paying as a tool to show interest without vulnerability, but he also blames women for expecting it. His perspective ignores systemic issues Cleo raises (pay gap, workplace harassment). He sees her poverty as a consequence of her career choice, not structural inequality, revealing his privilege and his tendency to reduce emotional issues to practical ones.
3. What is the significance of the jump at the end of the chapter?
Jumping together is a shared risk that requires trust. It contrasts with Cleo’s earlier refusal to be vulnerable. The act of leaping into the new year symbolically unites them—but because they remain on the stairwell, it is a contained risk, mirroring the chapter’s tension between freedom and safety.