Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis: Leaving New York

⚠️ 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

Chapter One opens in early March as the coronavirus begins spreading through New York City. Lucy, a novelist in her late sixties, admits she did not see the pandemic coming, but her ex-husband William—a parasitologist—did. The two were married for twenty years and have been divorced for roughly the same length of time. After Lucy's second husband David died and William's third wife Estelle left him, the two have grown closer, even taking a trip to Grand Cayman together the previous October.

William calls their daughters, Chrissy and Becka, and begs them to leave the city. Chrissy and her husband Michael, who has asthma, go to Connecticut to stay in Michael's parents' house. Becka stays in Brooklyn with her husband Trey, a poet who teaches at NYU. William then tells Lucy that his old friend Jerry has the virus and is on a ventilator; the next day, Jerry dies—one of the first people in New York to die of the virus.

William insists on getting Lucy out of the city, telling her she is at risk because she is not young, does not exercise, and is thin. Lucy completes errands—visiting her accountant (who waves her off with a warning instead of their usual hug) and getting her hair done—before William picks her up the next morning. He takes her laptop despite her protests, and they drive to a rented house in Crosby, Maine, arranged by Bob Burgess, the ex-husband of Pam Carlson, a woman William had an affair with years ago.

The house sits on a cliff above the ocean, weather-worn and cold. Lucy hates being in someone else's house and is cold constantly, a sensation that recalls her childhood of deprivation in Amgash, Illinois. She notices two islands in the water that remind her of a lone tree in a field she considered a friend as a child. William and Lucy quarantine for two weeks, playing Parcheesi and starting a Van Gogh puzzle.

On the first Monday, William shows Lucy news that writer Elsie Waters—a friend Lucy had recently declined to have dinner with—has died of the virus. Lucy cannot cry. She calls her doctor in New York about refilling her sleeping pills and panic attack medication; he tells her the pandemic will likely last over a year. This is the first moment Lucy feels deep apprehension, and she begins to understand she will not see New York again for a long time.

Every night, William and Lucy watch the news as New York erupts in crisis—ambulances, hospital workers without proper masks, people dying. Lucy finds herself looking at the floor during the coverage, unable to watch. Becka reports that refrigerator trucks filled with bodies are parked outside her Brooklyn apartment building. Chrissy and Michael are safe in Connecticut, working from home.

After the two-week quarantine, Bob Burgess visits. He wears a homemade cloth mask with flowers. They sit far apart in lawn chairs on the cliff. Bob tells Lucy her memoir deeply moved him—he read it as a book about being poor and crossing class lines, while his wife Margaret read it as a book about mothers and daughters. Lucy is deeply moved that Bob understood the book's true subject. Bob also shares that he never had children, which he says is the only thing in his life that made him sad. He tells Lucy about the Winterbournes, the couple who owned the house, and Lucy recounts giving a reading at a local college years ago where no one showed up.

Meanwhile, William speaks frequently and affectionately with Estelle and their daughter Bridget, who are staying in Larchmont with Estelle's mother and her new boyfriend. Lucy observes William's warmth toward Estelle and feels a slight irritation at how often he texts Bridget during meals. The chapter ends with Lucy reflecting that if she had known what was in store for Becka, she would not have felt any resentment at all.

Key Events

William urges Chrissy and Becka to leave New York City; Chrissy and Michael go to Connecticut, Becka stays in Brooklyn
William's friend Jerry dies of the virus
William drives Lucy to a rented house in Crosby, Maine, arranged by Bob Burgess
Lucy and William quarantine for two weeks
Writer Elsie Waters dies of the virus
Lucy's doctor predicts the pandemic will last over a year
Lucy and William watch nightly news coverage of New York's escalating crisis
Becka reports refrigerator trucks outside her apartment
Bob Burgess visits after quarantine and discusses Lucy's memoir
William maintains contact with Estelle and Bridget

Character Development

Lucy emerges as a narrator who processes trauma slowly. She repeatedly notes that she did not see the crisis coming and that her mind does not take in information until it can. Her resistance to William's urgency—questioning why she needs her passport, refusing to take her laptop—shows a woman who prefers familiarity and dislikes being alarmed. Her physical coldness in Maine connects to her childhood poverty, when she was always cold and stayed after school just to be warm. Her inability to cry at Elsie Waters's death suggests a grief that has not yet found an outlet.

William is proactive and scientifically minded, seeing the danger before Lucy does. He takes charge—calling the daughters, insisting Lucy leave, bringing her laptop, arranging the house. Yet he is also vulnerable: his half-sister Lois Bubar refused to meet him, and he learned things about his mother that dismayed him. His affectionate phone calls with Estelle reveal a capacity for forgiveness.

Bob Burgess is introduced as kind, shy, and perceptive. His reading of Lucy's memoir—as a book about poverty and class rather than mothers and daughters—creates an instant bond with Lucy. His confession about never having children adds a layer of sadness.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Pandemic onset and disbelief: Lucy's slow comprehension mirrors the broader cultural experience of early March 2020. Her repeated refrain about not understanding what was happening captures the disorientation of the moment.

Quarantine and isolation: The two-week quarantine in a cold, unfamiliar house literalizes the separation from normal life. Lucy's restlessness and constant coldness emphasize her displacement.

Childhood poverty and memory: Lucy's childhood in Amgash, Illinois, haunts her present. The cold she feels in Maine recalls her deprived childhood; the two islands remind her of the lone tree she considered a friend.

Class and social mobility: Bob's reading of Lucy's memoir—as a book about crossing class lines—becomes a key moment of connection. His own background of lesser means allows him to see what Margaret, who did not grow up poor, missed.

Death and mortality: Jerry's death, Elsie Waters's death, and the nightly news coverage of New York's dying all circle around mortality. Lucy's inability to cry suggests a grief too large to process.

The sea: The ocean in Crosby is described as foreign and beautiful but also cold and unfamiliar. Lucy's ambivalence toward it mirrors her ambivalence about being displaced.

Why This Chapter Matters

This opening chapter establishes the novel's central situation: Lucy's displacement from New York to Maine during the pandemic's first wave. It introduces the narrative voice—Lucy's distinctive, digressive, self-aware first-person narration—and the key relationships that will shape the story: her complicated bond with William, her concern for her daughters (especially Becka), and her new connection with Bob Burgess. The chapter also establishes the novel's thematic concerns: the slow processing of trauma, the persistence of childhood memory, and the ways class shapes perception. The final line—about not knowing what was in store for Becka—creates dramatic tension that will carry into subsequent chapters.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Lucy resist William's urgency about the virus, and what does this reveal about her character?

Lucy's resistance stems from her stated inability to take in information until she is ready. She admits she did not see the crisis coming and that her mind does not take in anything until it can. Her questions—why take a passport, why bring the laptop—show a preference for normalcy and a dislike of being alarmed. This slow processing is a defining trait that will shape her experience of the pandemic.

2. How does Bob Burgess's reading of Lucy's memoir differ from his wife Margaret's, and what does this reveal about class in the novel?

Bob reads Lucy's memoir as a book about being poor and trying to cross class lines in America, while Margaret reads it as a book about mothers and daughters. Bob explains that his own background of lesser means allows him to see the class dimension that Margaret, who did not grow up poor, misses. This moment establishes class as a central lens through which the novel understands its characters.

3. What is the significance of Lucy's inability to cry when she learns of Elsie Waters's death?

Lucy's inability to cry suggests a grief too large to process, consistent with her slow processing of trauma throughout the chapter. She is furious and walks for a long time, but tears do not come. This emotional numbness—also evident in her watching the news with her eyes on the floor—reflects the overwhelming nature of the pandemic's early losses.