1. The Sea. The book begins with a journal entry by Sophie. She describes how the sea has called out to her since she was little, and how—despite being told she was too young by adults—she followed the call, going out in dinghies and motorboats, and learning how to sail. Sophie then describes a nightmare she’d have of a towering black wave creeping up on her, nearly crushing her, but she always woke up just in time. Sophie says she always felt like she was floating when she awoke from the nightmare.
At the start of the book, we learn that Sophie has a mysterious relationship with the sea. Though the water calls out to her, it also routinely haunts her as a violent wave in her sleep. This push-pull relationship will echo throughout the entire book—Sophie unexplainably longs for the sea, but it also pushes her away with an equally mysterious force.