Summary

The prologue opens near the town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina. It is October 30, 1969, and the recently dead body of a man named Chase Andrews is on the ground near the marsh. Chapter 1 opens in August of 1952. Catherine “Kya” Clark, the protagonist, is six years old and lives in a shack in the marsh with her parents and her four older siblings. One day, Kya’s mother leaves the shack, never to return. No one in the family speaks of Ma’s departure, but Kya spends each day on the steps, waiting for Ma to return. Her older brother, Jodie, helps distract her by playing with her. In Chapter 2, over the next few weeks, Kya’s siblings all leave the house to live on their own. Kya knows that they are leaving because they do not wish to live with Pa. Kya wonders...