Chapter 2: Family Territory Summary

A few weeks later, Dellarobia and Cub are at his parents' (Hester and Bear) to assist with the semi-annual shearing of the farm's sheep with the added aid of their neighbors the Norwoods and Valia and Crystal Estep. Dellarobia, still wanting the "lake of fire" she saw to mean something important, has no patience for the self-righteousness and pettiness of those around her. She challenges Hester's smug Bible-quoting and assurance that God favors the Turnbows (the rain has finally stopped just in time for the shearing) while their neighbors, the Cooks, lost their crop because of the summer's incessant rain. She is horrified by the way Crystal, an unmarried high school dropout, allows her two sons, Jazon and Mical, to run riot. The women gossip about a growing feud between Crystal and her friend Brenda, who wants Crystal to...