The novel opens at Frankie’s funeral, and Music, the narrator, says, “I have come to claim my prize” (3). He clarifies that he is not death nor the “Great Judge,” but he has come to Frankie’s funeral to “gather up Frankie’s talent to spread on newborn souls” (3). Music says that when babies are born, he and the other talents “circle them, appearing as brilliant colors, and when they clench their tiny hands for the first time, they are actually grabbing the colors they find most appealing” (4-5). Frankie took a lot of Music when he was born, and as a result, Music has been with him throughout his entire life.

Music reveals that although Frankie was famous, his younger life was a secret to his fans and even to himself. He was born in Villareal, Spain, in the upstairs room of a burning church, where the “revolutionaries and militiamen, angry at the new government” (7) ransacked the church below. Because Frankie suffered as a child, he was gifted with six strings “that empowered him to change lives” (9).