Summary

The first chapter reveals that Isaac Balch has lost his teenaged son, Daniel. Daniel was violently stabbed to death by his childhood friend, Jonah, who later commits suicide. Chapter 2 introduces a pregnant sixteen year old girl, Evangeline, who has been abandoned by her mother. She has survived on her own for three months in a trailer, and reflects on the deaths of Jonah and David, whom she had met. As she glances at the news article covering the murder-suicide, she hones in on Isaac Balch. Chapter 3 returns to Isaac's first person narration, as he attempts to make sense of what has occurred and deal with his grief. He is attending the third service in honor of Daniel at his own Quaker meetinghouse. His friend Peter Thibodeau comforts him, and Isaac sees a vision of his son 40 minutes into the ceremony. He glances over...