Chapter 1: The Ice Breaks 1930s Summary

Dillon Freeman

Dillon is just an infant when his father dies. He and his mother continue to live in the same cabin where he died. They live in West Virginia in a mining community. Dillon envies his cousin Rachel Honaker who remembers her father while he has no memory of his. His father was a labor organizer who had been shot in the spine. He had languished in bed after the attack, paralyzed and miserable until his death. Dillon's Uncle Ben is afraid that Dillon and his mother won't be able to stay in the house because of the property tax. Uncle Ben opens a general store to help pay the mortgage. Carrie buys only lard and salt from the store but refuses to buy bread. She makes her own. Dillon hates school but is...