Part 1 consists of four epigraphs and a photo that establish the novel’s central themes. The first, an excerpt from the fictional Colloquies by Jeremiah Wylkes, describes a first-person journey through a dark cavern that opens into a “dazzling, vanished world” (3). The second, from a local newspaper, mentions regional folklore, including a body found in a quarry, a cavern with unusual echoes, and the abandoned Windmaker farm. The third, by a character named E. Blossfeldt, argues that a mountain’s true essence is its vast, unseen interior. The fourth is a Russian folktale about a fisherman following a magical creature that transforms from a fish into a maiden and then into a fox before running into a foxhole. The final page is a historical photograph of the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct.

A family—Miles Krzelewski-Petrosian, a graduate student; his wife, Kate Petrosian, a literature professor; their 12-year-old son, Wesley Krzelewski-Petrosian; and nine-year-old daughter, Olive Krzelewski-Petrosian—moves from California to Vermont for Kate’s one-year visiting professorship. After 14 years of failing to complete his dissertation, Miles has become the primary caregiver. While Kate possesses a thriving academic career with glowing reviews from students, Miles’s work as a teaching assistant is regarded as lackluster.