Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the sexual grooming of adolescents, sexual assault and rape, physical and emotional abuse, and suicidal ideation.

The murderer and anonymous narrator (later revealed to be Mrs. Andrews, Anna’s mother) begins by declaring their love for “her” and insisting that she committed the crimes on her behalf. She describes her isolation, her sense that she’s losing her mind, and her belief that with two sides to every story, someone is always lying. She also describes the subjective nature of truth, which becomes a major theme of the novel.

Anna Andrews, a BBC news anchor, leaves for work on her birthday, bringing cupcakes to her colleagues. As she walks to work, she thinks about her alcoholism, her family’s poverty, and her current dream job. Anna landed the job when the original anchor, Cat Jones, went into labor, and her contract has been consistently renewed for the last two years, helped by the fact that Cat Jones had a second child. She expects another renewal soon.

After that day’s program, Anna discovers that Cat Jones will return to work the next day. Anna is relegated back to the correspondent’s desk, and her boss provides her with a new contract indicating so.