We were collectors, dismantlers, and artisans. We pieced together life from the remnants of death.
-- Narrator/Jessa (Odocoileus Virginianus—Cutaneous Deer Fibroma)

Importance: Jessa says this of her family's longtime taxidermy business. Though she is immediately speaking of their work with animals, Jessa's words also address the ways in which she as an individual navigates her life and interior. Just as she collects dead animals, enlivening them through her craft, so she collects memories and fragments of the past, attempting to keep them alive in her mind and spirit. Through this early passage, the author begins establishing the ways in which the work of Jessa's hands is integral to the patterns of her emotional and psychic processing.

The best way to get through anything at home is just to stay at work.
-- Prentice (chapter 1)

Importance: Jessa recalls her father, Prentice saying this regarding his tendency to retreat into work at the shop as an escape from home life tension. Just as...