The End We Start From

The novel is told in an unnamed narrator’s first-person reflections, which alternate with italicized sections of third-person-narrated mythology that chart the primordial beginnings of the world. These two forms of narrations are separated by rows of asterisks, which mark them as separate sections without being separate chapters.

The novel opens with the protagonist about to go into labor with her first child. As she wrestles with the impending reality of giving birth, she is also confronted with the fear of having her baby alone because her partner, R, is away on a mountain climbing expedition. When she reaches out to R, he promises to hurry back as soon as he can. In the meantime, sends a friend, S, to stay with her.

The narrator senses that S is uncomfortable with caring for a pregnant woman. S brings along an uninvited friend, J, who brings beer and encourages S to watch television. As the narrator goes into labor, she reflects on her experience with pregnancy, her hopes for the birth of her child, and how her childhood shaped her view of the world.

Thinking back to a childhood fear that she was “chosen for [these] times.