1921 Summary

Sula lives in her grandmother's house. Eva Peace had the house built over a five-year period and had kept adding rooms, staircases and doors. Eva now lives on the third floor in a wagon where she oversees everyone in the house: her children, boarders, friends and strays… anyone who happens to be there. She sits in her wagon because she only has one leg. Nobody ever speaks of her missing leg, but she sometimes tells story about what happened to it. She is always known for her "magnificent" remaining leg. In her wagon, she sits low enough for kids to see her at eye level and adults to look down on her, but they always feel as though they are looking up to her.

Eva had been married and has three children: Hannah, Eve (nicknamed Pearl) and Ralph (nicknamed Plum). When her husband, BoyBoy, took...