Chapter 2 Summary

The first half of this chapter focuses on Mary Turner's childhood, youth, and young womanhood. There is extensive detail here about her relationships with her parents—her drunken, absent minded, always-at-work father and her bitter, resentful, hard-spirited mother. There is also extensive detail about her feelings about the stores in the many communities where she grew up—how they were always exactly the same in each community, how they initially became a refuge for her (looking at the pretty beads and fabrics and candies), and eventually became a source of fear and disgust (see "Quotes", p. 104-105).

Narration recounts how Mary recalls the happiest time of her childhood is the year when her two older sisters died, and her parents comforted and liked each other ... for a while. She is also happy when she goes away to boarding school, happier still...