The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Crummey, Michael. The Innocents. Doubleday, 2019.

Michael Crummey’s novel, The Innocents, follows the lives of two orphaned siblings as they struggle to survive. Ada and Evered Best grew up on an isolated cove in Newfoundland during the 19th century. Sennet and Sarah Best, their parents, died in short succession, leaving their children to fend for themselves.

When Ada was nine years old, she assisted in the birth of her younger sister. The midwife, Mary Orman, instructed her to hold the lamp between her mother’s legs while she made an incision. Ada was horrified by the gore and abject pain she witnessed. This experience, combined with her lack of education about her own body, solidified her aversion to becoming a woman. When Sennet gave her Sarah’s dress, Ada rejected the gift because she wanted to reject her own coming of age.

After their parents’ death, Evered inherited Sennet’s responsibilities. When The Hope docked off of the cove that year, Evered rowed out to meet it in place of Sennet. He met the Beadle and learned how to sell the family’s dried fish and purchase dried goods for the winter.

Ada and Evered were elated when salvage from a shipwreck washed up on their shore. They spent days fervently collecting the objects, praying they had not stumbled upon the remains of The Hope. Shortly after, Evered spotted a vessel that was stranded in the ice off of the cove. He and Ada ventured out to the ship to find more salvage that they could reclaim. Evered went down to the berth and discovered a grim scene; a pile of cannibalized bodies. He was scarred by the traumatic experience.

When The Hope arrived that spring, Evered caught an illness when he went aboard. Ada nursed him back to health but fell ill as well. Evered made a smoke signal on the beach to herald a passing vessel for assistance. Captain Truss and Mrs. Brace came ashore to aid the siblings. The captain taught Evered how to hunt and set snares. Mrs. Brace talked with Ada about marriage, sex, and her personal experience. Ada gave Captain Truss the bone carving that she stole from the indigenous grave.

Ada and Evered’s relationship evolved as they spent more time alone on the cove. Their childhood connection shifted from friendship to mutual reliance. They needed one another to fulfill their practical and emotional needs. When they slept in the same bed their relationship became sexual. Ada and Evered often pleasured each other.

When The Medusa came to the cove, Ada and Evered experienced a glimpse of what their lives could be if they were not isolated. Evered spent time with the crewmen, indulging in their crude humor, antics, and fraternal dynamic. He felt a sense of comradery that was absent in his life before this experience. Ada spent time with the captain, John Warren. He was an older man who saw Ada as a daughter and wanted to protect her from the potential danger of his crewmen. Warren recounted tales of his travels, told Ada about his lost love, and read to her from the notebook she took from Noah’s Ark.

After The Medusa departed Ada and Evered had sex for the first time. Both siblings felt ashamed of themselves and uncomfortable in one another’s presence afterward. When Ada found out that she was pregnant, she hid her growing stomach from Evered. She did not know who the father was or the details of how she came to be pregnant. Evered helped deliver the baby who was born with a deformed arm and webbed fingers. Ada named her child Martha, after their dead baby sister.