Summary

As the story begins, Chapter 1 uses the first person point of view; however, later in the chapter, there is a transition to the third person point of view. The narrator tells the reader that Essun will get her daughter back. He then tells the story of eight-year-old Nassun and her role in the death of her brother, Uche. Nassun had decided she wanted to be a stonelore and had approached Renthree, a lorist visiting the town for lessons. Nassun had offered Renthree a diamond she found in an area diamond mine as payment. Nassun found the mine and the diamond using her orogenic skills. Because the lorist recognizes how much the stone is worth, she returns it to Nassun’s father.

Jija had already begun to notice strange things about his son Uche, but he had denied his suspicions. Even though he knew...