It is August 1 in the Back Woods of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, at Elle’s family’s summer vacation spot. The novel opens with a man reading the poem “To a Skylark.” The narrator, Elle (Eleanor), is spellbound by the man, thinking that she could look at him for eternity and still be happy. Later, we learn that this man is Jonas, her childhood friend.

The next morning at half past six, Elle takes a nude swim in the pond. As she surfaces, she thinks about what happened last night: She finally had sex with Jonas after years of longing and wondering if he wanted her. Her husband, Peter, was drunk on the couch, her children were asleep, and her mother was washing dishes. Elle went to the pantry and hid her panties. Then, she and Jonas had sex outside. She recalls thinking “now there is no turning back. No more regrets for what I haven’t done. I love him, I hate myself; I love myself, I hate him. This is the end of a long story” (5).

The novel then switches perspective to Elle’s younger self. It is December 1966 in New York City.