8 yr old girl thinks she has killed her 9yr sister. She lives with this guilt but is not very sure she is to blame. Her mother is wrecked with grief over the loss of her daughter Daisy whom she loved maybe just a bit more than the other child Violet. The father Owen has taken to drinking because he too feels responsible over the loss. The story takes place in 1925 Scranton PA where most of the men work in the mines and even some of the boys are told not to attend school because working in the mines is more important. Everyone in town has an opinion on the what happened. Everyone arrives a different conclusions based on their own beliefs about about religion and your place in society.