Book 1, Chapter 1 Summary

The story begins in the early 1980s in a small Haitian village called Croix-des-Rosets. The narrator, twelve-year-old Sophie, presses a daffodil into a Mother's Day card for her aunt Atie. Though Mother's Day is not until Sunday, Atie is upset that night, and Sophie decides to give her the card early. However, Atie refuses the card, saying mysteriously that this year the card belongs to Sophie's mother. This puzzles Sophie, because her mother left Haiti to live in Brooklyn, New York, when Sophie was very young, leaving Sophie behind with Atie. Sophie appreciates the fact that her mother has faithfully sent them money every month, allowing them a far better standard of living than they would have had otherwise. However, Sophie has never met her mother and only knows her from the picture on the night table beside her aunt's bed...