Summary

After being pulled out from under the table and set outside because of her tears, the child sat on the stoop in the dark and was nearly asleep by the time Doll arrived and began pondering where they could go. Gathering her belongings from inside quickly, Doll carried Lila down the road, resting and keeping each other warm to escape the rain, before seeking shelter at an old woman's cabin. At the cabin, Lila was fed, bathed and dressed.

The old woman chided Doll for kidnapping a child when she had enough troubles of her own, but Doll could not leave Lila behind to die. Doll nursed Lila through her fever, and the old woman wrapped them up together in her quilt as Doll forbade the child to die.

Analysis

The novel opens with the introduction of the protagonist sitting on the...