Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Jane “Janie” Scott, the protagonist, writes a letter to readers from Los Angeles, California, in 2011, expressing concerns about sharing her story since her recollection of events isn’t “perfect.” She didn’t simply “forget” but “lost” her memory of events in a “more profound” manner. Despite this loss, she kept a diary of that time, and she explains that though she doesn’t remember writing in it, the script is hers. Jane promises to tell the events in order, even though they may seem fantastic, because it feels “urgent” to tell this story now.

Janie is seven years old when Japan surrenders, ending World War II. She learns that the Allies defeated two “evil forces” and that the war is over. Her parents’ friends doubt the veracity of this claim, but Janie and her parents, Marjorie and Davis Scott, anticipate improvements to daily life. Janie has an idyllic childhood in southern California. Then, the Korean War begins, and the communist threat grows; her school shows a film giving students instructions about what to do if an atomic bomb falls on the US, and students practice getting under their desks.