Summary

Charlotte was born in the mid-eighteen hundreds. As a baby, she became sick with fevers several times. People were amazed that she could live through the illnesses, but she was strong, having walked and talked before most babies. She never cried “unless someone took something from her” (11).

When Charlotte was two, she and her parents were in an accident caused by a storm that spooked the horses. Both of her parents died. Charlotte was found being sheltered by the horses. She was clutching one of the horse’s reins so hard that the doctor cut the strap away from the horse, so that Charlotte could keep it. The people who found Charlotte could not keep her, so she went to an orphanage.

Analysis

Ryan sets up Charlotte’s character as being heroic and “larger than life” from the very beginning of the...