In 1989, the narrator meets with brother and sister Michael and Carolyn, who ask him to write the story of the brief affair that their mother, Francesca Johnson, had in 1965 with photographer Robert Kincaid. The narrator finds the tale compelling, and he agrees to take up the project. The siblings return three more times to provide more information, and together they tour locations where the story’s events took place.

The narrator studies Francesca’s journals and Robert’s photographic essays, conducts research in Washington state and Madison County, Iowa, and interviews old acquaintances of the photographer. He finds Robert to be a “consummate professional” but in many respects a cipher. His photographic files are missing, and much of his later life is a mystery.

The story that follows is the narrator’s best attempt at recreating what happened during that long-ago summer. It contains an intense romance that some might reject as impossible; he asks that the reader offer “a willing suspension of disbelief” (xx). 

At his home in Bellingham, Washington, Robert Kincaid places photographic equipment, a suitcase, food cooler, and guitar into his pickup truck—he calls the truck “Harry”—and drives east toward Minnesota, stopping now and then to note interesting places or take a quick photo.