Summary

The first person narrator discusses events that people in her town would say occurred in the year 1944 such as that their fathers went off to war or that polio killed people. For narrator, Ann Fay Honeycutt, “it was the year I put on overalls and become the 'man of the house'” (9). She also fought wisteria and “learned that all of us is fragile as a mimosa blossom“ (7).

In Chapter 1, “The War Hits Home,” Ann Fay and her family are waiting for the train to come pick up their father. There is a Black family also saying goodbye to their father, and it is at this point that Ann Fay realizes the Black people and white people are not all that different. Ann Fay’s father gives her overalls to wear and says she will be the man of the house. This...