Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter 2, Childhood, 1916, begins when Daisy is eleven years old. She is living in Winnipeg, Canada with Mrs. Clarentine Flett, the former neighbor of her parents who was a witness to Daisy's birth. Mrs. Flett has left her husband and fled to live with her son, Barker, an unmarried scholar and professor of botany.

Eleven years have passed. Cuyler Goodwill was too devastated and confused by his wife's death to believe that he could care for his daughter. During this time, back in Tyndall, he built an enormous monument to his dead wife with stones removed from the quarry. It becomes a somewhat legendary monument, drawing visitors from near and far. Cuyler's perfect memory of his wife is damaged, however, since he believes that for some reason, she kept the fact from him that they were expecting a baby. Of course, Mercy did not...