The novel begins in 2010, with the narrator, Mae, recalling her mother’s obsession with a children’s farm animals book. Her mother, often drunk, would insist all animals were sheep, and Mae went along with it to avoid danger. They became estranged, and Mae, seeking answers about her personal problems, bombarded the book’s publishing company with over two hundred emails. An ill-mannered employee warned her with legal action until, anonymously, a copy of the book arrived, reuniting Mae with her mother.
In their reconnection, Mae visited her mother at a retirement village. Her mother spent her time watching home videos made by her lodger, Mikey. Mae found her mother’s nostalgia disconcerting, especially when her mother started asking invasive questions about Mae’s sexual life. The day before her mother’s death, Mae watched a quiz show with her and her friends. Her mother answered a question about who shot Andy Warhol and died the following day. Mae arranged a Catholic funeral, surprising the priest who’d never seen her at mass.
The narrative shifts to 1966, where seventeen-year-old Mae lived in New York with her mother and Mikey. Mae’s fallout with her best friend, Maud, led her to ride department store escalators daily. Her school’s dance performance ended in chaos when a girl suffered a seizure, leading to Mae’s social ostracism.
Mae encountered a young man, Henry, on the Macy’s escalator, leading to a brief romantic encounter at his home. His mother advised Mae to see a doctor due to Henry’s behavior. Back in 2010, Mae enjoys visiting art galleries in the city, encountering Maud and rekindling a meaningful conversation over lunch, revealing her own experiences to a curious Maud.
In 1966, Mae visited the doctor’s recommended address, which turned out to be Andy Warhol’s Factory. She got a job transcribing tapes, delving into intimate conversations between Warhol and his circle. Mae’s involvement in this world led to a shift in her perception and behavior. Her experiences at the Factory affected her deeply, both morally and emotionally.
The narrative sees Mae finding Shelley, a fellow typist, living a double life, and witnessing Shelley’s growing discomfort with the tapes’ content. Shelley destroyed the last tape, leading to Mae taking the blame, fabricating a story about her Catholic mother destroying it. She was dismissed but haunted by the Factory experience, unable to settle in other jobs.
She eventually found solace working in a cinema, but the news of Warhol’s shooting reached her, and she corrected proofs for the book “A Novel,” based on the Factory tapes. Years later in 1985, Warhol called her, mentioning her mother and parting with a cryptic “goodbye Mae.”
The book presents Mae’s firsthand account of her time in Warhol’s Factory during the 1960s, exploring the impact of that experience on her life. It’s a unique glimpse into a specific era in modern art history, showcasing Mae’s involvement while remaining largely invisible to the key figures.