Outline

The narrator, a writer whose name is revealed to be Faye at the end of the novel, meets a billionaire to discuss the launch of a literary magazine, right before catching a flight to Athens, Greece. Faye is going to Athens to teach a week-long writing workshop. Over lunch, the billionaire gives Faye the outline of his life story: his rise from humble roots to huge success, his ambitious projects, and his large family of 11 children, including adopted quadruplets from Guatemala. The billionaire gets so caught up in sharing his many plans with Faye, such as developing a floating wind farm on the sea, that the literary magazine never comes up. Since Faye has a flight to catch, the billionaire books her a cab and wishes her a great time in Athens. Faye cannot recall having told the man that she was going to Athens.

Faye boards the plane at Heathrow airport and finds herself sandwiched between a boy lost in gaming and a tanned man with silver hair and bushy, silvery eyebrows. The man’s eccentric appearance piques Faye’s interest. They strike up a conversation. Faye learns that the man’s wealthy Greek family moved to London from their island in Greece when he was a child.