Chapters 5-7 Summary

Amabelle tells of how Sebastien came to be in Alegria. He is from the same region of the country as her but only met Amabelle in the cane settlement. His father was killed in the great hurricane of 1930 and his family lost everything. Sebastien came to work the cane with many others who had lost everything in their home villages. The cooing of pigeons at night haunts him and sounds to him like the moans of long dead ghosts. When he hears them he is reminded of his mother, still alive in Haiti.

The Senora has Amabelle light a candle in honor of Valencia's dead mother. Amabelle and Juana sit together in the kitchen and Juana remembers the birth of Valencia and mourns the passing of time now that the Senora has given birth to two babies. Juana grew up in...