Summary

“The Beast” is the first section in the novel and is narrated in third-person past. The midwife, Martha, delivered a child for her unnamed daughter. The midwife’s daughter started to die, but she asked her mother for the child’s name. The midwife did not want to say the name the Father had chosen for the baby, but she did: Immanuelle. The midwife’s daughter started to laugh, pleased about the curse the witch in the woods had told her about.

“Blood” begins with Chapter One. Immanuelle sat in church and listened to the Prophet deliver his sermon, which involved the sacrifice of a lamb and the painting of blood on the congregation’s faces. After, since it was the Sabbath, Immanuelle and her best friend, Leah, sat by the river enjoying the sun. Immanuelle wanted to be...