- That's not the whole story. There's tons of talking and laughter in Naomi's childhood, but outside of her house she is silent because of trauma she has endured.
- The family has a white hen in the backyard. Her parents bought some chicks, so one day Naomi decides to put them into the cage with the hen. Not such a good idea. The hen kills the chicks.
- You might think she'd be in trouble, but Naomi's mom just fixes the problem. When it's all over Naomi tells her mother everything. She can tell her anything and not be afraid.
- Well, except one thing.
- A man named Old Man Gower molests her when her parents aren't around. He tells her not to say anything to her mother. And it's not just that secret she has to keep, because a boy also molests her during a game of hide and seek.
- Naomi has dreams of women trying to protect themselves from soldiers by seducing them. The plan doesn't work and the soldiers kill them slowly by shooting off their feet.
- When Old Man Gower comes for Naomi, she doesn't struggle. She doesn't talk. She doesn't move. She thinks that maybe if she is quiet, she will be safe.
- Now there is something separating her from her mother, and Naomi feels a rift widening between them. She's only four and she's scared. In her dreams Naomi's legs are being sawn in half.
- We just wanted to let you know that this is about one fourth of the way through the novel, and chapters ten and eleven are probably the happiest ones in the whole book. You've been warned.