The novel is about several women whose lives are connected, directly or indirectly, to a well-known sculptor named Eli. The book is structured as a sequence of long, closely observed narratives that overlap in time and circumstance. Though the voices shift, the events unfold in a shared world, and together they form a continuous account of what happens before, during, and after Eli’s exposure and death.
The book opens with a woman in her mid-thirties who is now married, has a young son, and lives a quiet suburban life. Years earlier, when she was younger and part of the art world, she was involved with Eli. That relationship was violent, confusing, and destabilizing, though at the time she did not describe it clearly or publicly. In the present, she comes across a long investigative article about Eli that has just been published online. The article details allegations from multiple women who were involved with him, describing patterns of manipulation, coercion, and abuse. The narrator reads the article while preparing for her son’s birthday party. The domestic setting contrasts sharply with the memories the article brings back. As guests arrive and children play in a bounce house, she reflects on how, after what happened with Eli, she slowly withdrew from the art world, stopped making art, and eventually built a “normal” life with her husband, a dentist who knows nothing about Eli or her past. Throughout the party, she moves between ordinary tasks—serving food, talking to neighbors, watching her son—and intrusive recollections of Eli and the years when she felt isolated, ashamed, and unable to name what had happened to her.
During the party, she briefly considers having an affair with a nearby neighbor, a man she finds attractive. They meet privately, but once they begin kissing, she loses interest and stops it. The encounter ends without drama, and she returns to the party. The moment underscores her emotional distance from both desire and danger. By the end of the day, she feels neither resolved nor undone. She remains married, present with her child, and still unwilling to speak publicly about Eli, even as she recognizes the relief other women have found in telling their stories.
