Part 2, The House Astride the Devil's Backbone, 1861 - Section 1 Summary

Chapter 2 - The narrative voice shifts in this chapter, still in first person but from here on, and for most of the rest of the book, the perspective is that of Grandma Tilly, now a young girl. She describes being sent by her mother (Mama) to fetch her (Tilly's) younger sister Cass from the woods atop the Devil's Backbone, narration placing the action at a time early in the Civil War (see "Objects/Places"). Tilly looks for Cass where she (Cass) is usually found - on a flat rock high up on the Backbone, a place where she can look out over the river. Tilly describes Cass's history of having visions, in particular a vision of a tragically drowned wedding party but also of explorers, traders and...