Content Warning: This section contains graphic discussions of cannibalism, violence—including the suggestion of violence toward animals—as well as nonconsensual sexual advances and suicidal ideation.

The novel begins with a flashback centered on Penny Wilson, who is Maren Yearly’s babysitter. Though Maren is an infant, she manages to eat Penny when she comes too close to Maren’s face. When Maren’s mother, Janelle, comes home, Penny’s bones are in a pile, she has no face, and Maren’s face is bloody. Later, Janelle finds part of Penny’s eardrum in Maren’s mouth. They pack and leave within 12 minutes.

Years later, when Maren asks her mother what she did with Penny’s bones, her mother says there are some questions she’ll never answer. On May 30, Maren’s 16th birthday, Maren’s mother gives her a complete volume of The Lord of the Rings and takes her to an Italian restaurant. They talk about college and then watch Titanic at a movie theater.

In the morning, Maren finds a note from her mother saying that she loves her but can’t do it anymore. Maren is confused. It’s been six months since she did “the bad thing” (5). The note also says that her mother hates herself for birthing Maren, that she has to protect the world, and that she often considered turning Maren in.