Chapter One through Chapter Five Summary

"A Swift Pure Cry" is the story of Shell Talent, a fifteeen-year-old young woman in Ireland in 1894 who must overcome suffering, death, alcoholism, family dysfunction, and teenage pregnancy to find her peace. It is a heart-wrenching story that end in hope and a look for the future.

Chapter One finds Shell Talent with her younger siblings Trix and Jimmy and her father in church. Since her mother died a year ago, her father has been religious crazy, quitting his job and raising money for the church. Shell, on the other hand, finished with God the day her mother died. As her father winds down the reading at church, Shell is relived, as he has become highly agitated and excited. When Father Rose, the new curate, begins to preach, Shell finds herself transported to the story...