The story is told from the point of view of Tenar, one of the dynamic characters along with Ged, who must find a life apart from magical power.

Therru, who seems to be a small girl, was raped, burned, beaten, and left for dead by her young, shiftless, and perverted parents and their friends. There is some question as to what she will become. While the novel is dominated by the middle-aged lives of Tenar and Ged, each of whom is facing a crisis of self-definition (triggered in Tenar's case by her husband's death and in Ged's by the loss of his power), Therru's nurture and growth are important to the novel's action.

Among the static characters are two classes of villain, Therru's parents and their friends, and Aspen, a local wizard. Her parents, Hake and Senini, as well as their friends, Handy and...