Their baby sister died an innocent and sits at God's right hand and hears their prayers.
-- Narrator (The Driven Snow)

Importance: Sarah Best told Ada and Evered that their sister, Martha, died an innocent and watched over them. Ada internalized this as an unequivocally truth and started having one sided conversations with Martha after she and Evered were left alone on the cove. Her belief that her younger sister had a sway in their survival bolstered Ada's confidence that she and Evered could survive alone. As Ada explored her sexuality she kept the details of her encounters a secret from Martha. She considered sex to be shameful which is evoked in her inability to recount her sexual experiences with someone she considers innocent.

It made Evered think of how little his parents spoke of anything other than the work at hand or the vagaries of the weather.
-- Narrator (Mary Orman. Her Utensils. )

Importance: Ada and Evered grew up without a formal...