The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Allen-Agostini, Lisa. The Bread the Devil Knead. Myriad Editions, 2021.

Lisa Allen-Agostini's novel is set in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as surrounding towns. The numerated chapters of the novel are written in the present tense and told from the main character Alethea Lopez's first person point of view. The interspersed timestamped sections of the novel trace Alethea, or Allie's life in the past and are written from the third person point of view. For the sake of clarity, the following summary employs the present tense and a streamlined mode of exploration.

When Allie is a little girl, she lives with her mother Marcia, or Mammie. When Allie is roughly five years old, her uncle Allan shows up in her home with his young son Colin. He tells his sister that Colin's mother has abandoned them and he needs her to raise Colin. For a few days, Mammie and Allie assume Colin's care. Allie immediately falls in love with Colin and sees him as her brother, although she understands him to be her cousin. Not long later, Allan reinserts himself into the family. He begins sexually abusing Allie. Because Mammie has had a history of emotionally and verbally abusing Allie, too, she does nothing to stop Allan's aggression.

When Allie is 17 years old, she runs away from home. She is sad to leave Colin, but feels she has no other choice. She relies upon her friend Jankie for help and support.

In the narrative present, Allie is 39 years old. She is living in Carenage, a town outside of Port of Spain. She resides with her abusive boyfriend Leo. Although Leo is jealous, manipulative, and violent, Allie feels incapable of leaving him.

When Allie returns to On the Town, the boutique where she works, after the Christmas holiday, she finds herself confiding in her coworker Tamika about Leo. However, when Tamika asks why Allie does not leave him, Allie feels ashamed and upset.

Allie convinces her boss Bobby to hire her friend Jerry to do the shop's window displays for the upcoming Fire Fete. While Jerry is working at On the Town, he learns the truth about Allie's relationship. Showing her his own scars and sharing stories from his own abusive relationship, he urges her to leave Leo.

While admiring Jerry's display, Allie, Jerry, and Tamika see a woman named Carol George running through the street and screaming. Her abusive husband chases, shoots, and kills her. When police arrive, they kill the husband. The scene haunts Allie, but she does not want to believe her situation is anything like Carol's.

Allie accompanies Tamika to the local church. Tamika is getting married and wants a church wedding. After the mass, Allie is shocked to discover that the resident priest is in fact her brother Colin.

Allie refuses to meet up with Colin in spite of his repeated attempts to do so. Once she finally agrees, she regrets her decision. Colin not only sees her bruises, but brings up Mammie and Allan. She flees the lunch prematurely, afraid of discussing the truth.

Around the same time, Jankie resurfaces in Allie's life, too. When Jankie reveals her plans to leave her husband and abandon her life in the States, Allie is shocked. Jankie tells Allie she wants to move back home and open a boutique with Allie. Allie does not understand Jankie's motivations, but is thrilled to be given this opportunity.

Colin tells Allie one day that their grandmother Ma left them her house in Valencia. Allie is initially thrilled to finally have something of her own. However, when she, Colin, and Leo visit the house together, she starts to feel differently. While at the house, Colin reveals that Mammie and Allan had an incestuous relationship and Allie is their child.

Overcome by confusion and despair, Allie retreats into herself. In spite of her reclusiveness, none of her friends abandons her. When they throw her an impromptu birthday party, Allie is filled with gratitude. While out all together celebrating, Leo proposes and Allie accepts.

At Fire Fete the next day, everything is calm until Leo gets into a fight with Allie's friends Curtis and Sugars. Leo then pulls out a gun and points it at Allie. Police intervene, shooting and killing Leo.

Colin helps Allie recover in the aftermath of Leo's death. After the funeral, he takes her to his friend Sister Michael Pierre's retreat center for trauma survivors. Michael encourages Allie to write about her past and her trauma. In doing so, Allie finds healing and renewal.