Summary

In “Sally,” Sally has been living at high house with Caro and Pauly since before the flood. Although they have survived, their provisions are running out. As Sally prepares some tea, she lists all the things she misses, including coffee, “Milk. Mustard. Ham” (1).

The three companions have “so much space,” between “the house and the garden,” “the copse and the heath, the dunes and the beach,” but they keep each other close (2). In spite of their difficult circumstances, Sally is “not unhappy” (3).

In Chapter 1, “Caro,” Caro’s stepmother Francesca inherited high house from her uncle. The first time Caro saw the house, she was visiting for the summer with her father. Because of how the house had been built, when it rained, the house became an island, with the westerly part of its land left unflooded and a causeway “joining the house to...