Summary

In "All Souls':” Chapter 22, Petronella’s wake falls in the stretch of holidays including All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day. Yejide thinks the timing is perfect.

Yejide leads the ceremony the family hosts each year. They line the driveway with lit candles, call the names of the women who bore the gift before Yejide, and pound drums.

The villagers join the family with their own candles and drums. Even though the villagers cannot see them, the spirits of the St. Bernard ancestors join the group.

When Petronella appears, she looks thin, like a spider web. Yejide is surprised to see herself in her mother’s face. Granny Catherine tells Yejide it is up to her to give her mother life. Yejide sings a song given to her by her ancestors and her mother begins to fill out...