John Fuller dictates his 29 years of life to a scribe in 1300s England after he is paralyzed in an accident. Seeing a leper at a young age made him acutely aware of his own deformities, particularly his lazy eye. At the age of 22, he married a woman older than himself, Katherine, who was the daughter of a town leader. When his wife had twins, people assumed it was because two men sired them, and considered her a harlot. The two only had each other and their twins, who both died from a fever at a young age. Katherine began to go insane, sitting in the snow in nothing but a skirt for hours, howling with sobs in church. She said that God spoke to her through her fits, and local religious officials agreed. She started leading a life of faith. Throughout it, she remained married to John but refused sex with him. John had taken over his father's musical tutoring business upon his death. One day, he met a young girl, Olivia who could sing nearly perfectly. Meanwhile, his home life was falling, as Katherine forbade John to sing as it seemed to her a pale imitation of the sound God gave her. Consequently, their house was always in silence. Katherine pressured John to declare their marriage celibate so they were no longer wed, but John refused. Katherine stopped eating in protest. Olivia became John's best student. She grew stronger as Katherine grew weaker. Under John's tutelage, Olivia became one of the best singers around. She proclaimed her love for him after a practice session where she hit the perfect note. But John realized the dire beauty of the perfect note, that in the pause afterward, one realizes that nothing can be like it ever again. John turned down his student's offer of love, but he acted jealously when he'd see potential suitors for Olivia walking down the street. He went home and told Katherine that he would allow her to take the celibacy vow. Afterward, he noted how going back to Olivia for another lesson felt strange. Her singing was off because she felt shame for telling him she loved him to no avail. John wanted her, but he refused to profane her by sleeping with her and thereby ruining her chances of marrying. He promised to find her a new teacher. Frustrated after the session, he forced himself on Katherine. When he went downstairs, he fell and paralyzed himself. Following her husband's accident, Katherine visits the abbey where John is living to feed him his meals.