Parsifal dies suddenly of a brain aneurysm, leaving his wife Sabine alone after already losing Phan months earlier.

Parsifal's lawyer Roger reveals that Parsifal was secretly born Guy Fetters from Nebraska, with a living mother and two sisters.

Sabine meets with her parents and shares the shocking truth about Parsifal's secret family in Nebraska.

Parsifal's mother Dot calls Sabine and arranges to visit Los Angeles with her daughter Bertie.

Sabine meets Dot and Bertie at the Los Angeles airport for the very first time.

Dot visits Parsifal's grave and reveals the last time she saw him in person was when he was seventeen.

Dot confesses she sent the teenage Parsifal to a reformatory school because she could not accept his homosexuality.

Another magician pulls Sabine onstage at the Magic Castle, where she freezes and breaks down crying in front of the audience.

Bertie invites Sabine to Nebraska for her upcoming wedding, and Sabine later calls to accept the invitation.

Sabine travels to Nebraska and meets Kitty, Kitty's husband Howard, and Kitty's two teenage sons for the first time.

Late at night, Kitty reveals to Sabine that Parsifal killed their father with a baseball bat to protect Dot.

Dot confirms the truth about Parsifal killing his father and admits he was sent to reformatory school instead of prison.

Howard violently flips the kitchen table during a card trick, sending Bertie headfirst into the wall and injuring her.

Howard arrives at Dot's house carrying a long knife, cuts Kitty's face, and physically threatens Sabine.

Sabine performs Parsifal's seemingly impossible card trick at Bertie's wedding reception and pulls it off successfully.

The novel opens with Parsifal's sudden death, leaving his wife and longtime assistant Sabine completely alone after already losing Phan months earlier. A shocking revelation from Parsifal's lawyer forces Sabine to reckon with a husband she thought she knew — a man who had fabricated his entire past. Drawn in by Parsifal's estranged mother Dot, Sabine travels to Nebraska to uncover the truth about the life Parsifal left behind. In Nebraska, she learns the darkest secret of all: Parsifal killed his abusive father to protect his mother and was sent to a reformatory rather than prison. The toxic presence of Kitty's husband Howard escalates into genuine danger for the whole family. The novel closes on a note of fragile hope as Sabine performs Parsifal's signature trick at Bertie's wedding, signaling her readiness to move forward.

The headline events of Sabine's grief, discovery, and renewal after Parsifal's death.

Phan, Parsifal's partner, dies of AIDS complications before the novel begins, leaving Sabine already deep in grief.

Sabine arranges Parsifal's funeral and inherits his belongings, including Phan's Vietnamese notes and family photographs.

Sabine finds an old postcard in a box addressed to Guy Fetters from Nebraska, announcing the birth of a baby sister.

Sabine brings Dot and Bertie to see Phan's enormous Spanish-style mansion, where photographs of Phan are displayed throughout.

Sabine cuts her hand deeply on an X-Acto knife while distracted building an architectural model in her studio.

At the emergency room, Dot holds Sabine's hand during stitches and reveals the true origin of Parsifal's facial scar.

Sabine takes Dot and Bertie to Parsifal's antique rug store, the very place where Parsifal first met Phan.

Sabine tells Dot and Bertie how she first met Parsifal while working as a server at one of his magic performances.

Upon arriving in Nebraska, Dot shows Sabine Parsifal's childhood bedroom, which has remained completely unchanged since he left.

Sabine and Kitty meet for the first time late at night in Dot's kitchen, and Sabine is struck by Kitty's resemblance to Parsifal.

Sabine discovers Parsifal's old childhood magician's kit in Nebraska and performs some of the tricks from it.

Dot confesses she never sought Parsifal out because she always believed he would eventually choose to come home on his own.

Kitty takes Sabine shopping and reveals that Parsifal's father once locked the young Parsifal inside a refrigerator as punishment.

Kitty arrives at Dot's house with a bruised face and announces she is finally leaving Howard and moving in with her sons.

Sabine begins crafting a detailed architectural model of her Los Angeles house as a gift for Kitty's sons Guy and How.

Before the novel's present-day action begins, Phan's death from AIDS has already left Sabine raw with grief, making Parsifal's death even more devastating. As Sabine begins to process her loss, small discoveries — an old postcard, a box of photographs, an unexpected phone call — slowly reveal the shape of Parsifal's secret past. Dot and Bertie's visit to Los Angeles deepens Sabine's curiosity and compassion, even as they tour the remnants of a life Parsifal's family was never invited to share. Once in Nebraska, Sabine encounters the daily textures of Parsifal's childhood world through his unchanged bedroom, his old magician's kit, and the memories his family carry. Each scene adds a layer to Sabine's understanding of why Parsifal felt he had to leave and reinvent himself. By the time Howard's violence escalates and Kitty finally seeks safety, Sabine has become fully woven into the fabric of this family.

The quieter scenes that filled in Parsifal's hidden life and drew Sabine into his family.

Sabine has her first vivid dream of Phan's ghost, who hints that Parsifal had been keeping a secret from everyone close to him.

The Magic Castle's manager offers Sabine her own solo headline show, but she understands that this chapter of her life is over.

Sabine's parents suggest Parsifal hid his family to protect her, proposing that his family must have hurt or rejected him.

Sabine dreams that Phan tells her Parsifal is embarrassed about his lies and wants her to reconcile with his family on his behalf.

Sabine invites Dot and Bertie to stay in her house rather than at a hotel, marking a new closeness between them.

Dot asks Sabine directly about her marriage, and Sabine explains she stayed in love with Parsifal despite knowing he could not love her romantically.

Sabine and Dot discover a childhood photograph of Kitty tucked inside Parsifal's old box of keepsake pictures.

Dot sends Sabine a letter containing a photograph of Parsifal as a child, intensifying Sabine's desire to visit Nebraska.

Sabine's mother warns her to stop chasing dead men when Sabine announces she plans to visit Parsifal's family in Nebraska.

Sabine dreams of Phan standing in snowy Nebraska, who tells her that being there will help her see important patterns in her grief.

Kitty shows Sabine that Parsifal kept a childhood notebook filled with aliases and stage names, revealing his lifelong desire to reinvent himself.

The entire Fetters family gathers in Nebraska to watch the old Johnny Carson recording of Parsifal and Sabine performing together.

Kitty apologizes to Sabine for accusing her of abandoning Parsifal's memory, and the two women share a quiet, meaningful kiss.

Sabine teaches Kitty's sons a magic trick, and the older boy How asks if he can come visit her in California.

Sabine invites Kitty and her two sons to leave Nebraska behind and come live with her in California.

Even in the earliest stages of grief, Sabine's vivid dreams of Phan begin guiding her toward the unresolved truths Parsifal left behind, pushing her toward his estranged family. Each new piece of information — a childhood photograph, a letter from Dot, her mother's warning — forces Sabine to weigh her love for Parsifal against her need for honesty and self-knowledge. Her arrival in Nebraska unlocks deeper revelations, including the alias notebook that shows Parsifal's lifelong desire to become someone else entirely. As Sabine grows closer to Kitty, the bond between them crosses into something neither woman can fully name, echoing the unrequited love that defined Sabine's marriage. The violence in the Fetters household finally brings Sabine's Nebraska journey to a crisis point, clearing the way for her to act rather than simply observe. By the novel's end, Sabine has moved from passive grieving to active transformation, offering Kitty and her sons the escape that Parsifal once took for himself.

The discoveries, dreams, and decisions that transformed Sabine's grief into acceptance and connection.