The narrator and main character, Jacob Portman, sets up the story for the reader by introducing his grandfather, Abraham Portman. His grandfather is a well-traveled man who has been in the circus and fought in wars. At age 6, Jacob had decided he would become an explorer to lead an exciting life like his grandfather’s. Jacob’s parents explained to him that he could not be an explorer, and he felt cheated. As he grew older, Jacob felt further cheated when he considered how his grandfather’s stories couldn’t be true. Abraham’s stories about monsters and a children’s home in Wales, along with pictures of unusual children, cause Jacob to have nightmares.

In the second grade, Jacob is bullied and made fun of because he believes in fairy tales. He tells his grandfather he does not believe the stories anymore, and the stories are never mentioned again. The narrator reveals that his grandfather was placed on a train as a child and sent to Britain to escape the monsters that eventually killed his family—the Nazis. Jacob ends the prologue by setting up future chapters: “Then, a few years later, when I was fifteen, an extraordinary and terrible thing happened, and there was only Before and After.