[1] After Anna begins a sexual relationship with Coop, an incident of violence tears the family apart.

The book then details each of the characters' separate journeys through life post-incident and how they are all interconnected.

Later in her life, Anna moves to France to live in a farmhouse once owned by the French poet Lucien Segura whom she is researching.

This part also goes back to Rafael's childhood and tells how he and his family met Lucien Segura when they were looking for a new place to live.

The last part centers on the story of Lucien's teenage years, and how he got married and how he survived the war.

So for people to make decisions at that age or people who are judged at that age, it's a terrible thing to happen to them, I think.He goes on to say that he was exploring how strong this nuclear family is, albeit not blood-related, and how "they have to kind of deal with the rest of their lives with this one moment of trauma".