The novel begins with 91 year-old Vivian’s first person narration. She declares that all of the people who have been central in her life are ghosts, including her true love, whom she lost when she was 23 years old, and her sister, Maisie. These ghosts are still with her, guiding her and keeping her company.

Each chapter begins with a heading indicating the location and the year. The Spruce Harbor, Maine chapters all occur in 2011 and they are narrated by Molly, in the third person. The other chapters occur in various locations during in years beginning in 1929 and ending in 1943; these chapters are narrated by Vivian.

Molly, who is 17 years old, listens to her foster parents, Dina and Ralph, argue about returning her to the foster-care agency. She has just been arrested for stealing a worn copy of Jane Eyre from the public library. Molly is in the 11th grade at the local high school. She dresses as a “Goth”—dyed black hair with white or purple streaks, white face makeup, and dark eyeliner, black-painted fingernails—and purposely avoids relationships with the other kids. She has a boyfriend named Jack, who is the first person to try to break through her intimidating façade.