Divorce

The novel begins with the thought that the divorce of their parents doomed Sarah and Emily Grimes to never have any happiness in their lives. In fact, the girls are deeply affected by the divorce of their parents. Their parents' divorce in the early thirties, a time when divorce was nearly unheard of. Their mother, Pookie, tries to make a living on her own, going into many schemes that include real estate. Pookie is trying to survive as a single, working mother in a time when there was not even a word for this situation, let alone an understanding of the enormity of such an undertaking.

Sarah grows up the impression that divorce ruins lives; therefore, she refuses to get a divorce even when her husband is beating her. There are a few times when her children are gone that Sarah considers an escape, but her sister refuses...