Sally Owens

Sally is one of the main characters in the story and the point of view often comes from her. When the story begins, Sally is a small child who has been sent to live with her aunts after her mother and father die in a fire. Sally is the older sister of Gillian. Although Sally is only a child when her parents die, Sally blames herself for their deaths believing that she could have saved them if she had been there. Sally doesn't realize how much her aunts care for her. Sally will spend much of her youth trying to be very proper and keep things in order in an attempt to control the things around her.

When Sally is older, she marries and has two children. When Sally's husband dies, Sally is unable to focus on anything other than her own grief for a full year...