Marvin, middle-aged and discouraged, has diligently rehearsed jumping in front of a New York subway car. The moment has almost arrived -- we hear his train coming -- but a woman across the tracks jumps as his train is late. He is upstaged. He flees the event -- he realizes that what he wanted was peace and not annihilation.

The book skillfully tracks his quest to find out who this suicide was. He sees her as having saved his life. He steals her diaries from her house, attends her wake and funeral, reacting in both a state of madness and clarity. We follow his meeting Rochelle at the Coroners Office, his romance with Rochelle, and their eventual marriage. He makes peace with his ex-wife, renews his relationship with a difficult daughter, and eventually releases Anns diaries into the sea as his honeymoon cruise begins. Anns suicide has renewed him to lifes meaning and the significance that people have for one another.