What happens to James and Sadie's relationship as the years go on?

Sadie hates their lives in Ohio and has become vindictive to the point of hating everything and everyone. She turns to alcohol for comfort, made from some of the family's apple trees. James loves the apple trees and the orchard has become his method of coping with his harsh, disappointing life. He is prone to violence and often beats Sadie and even the children.