Content Warning: This section discusses life in and escape from a cult, abortion, physical abuse, death and grief, and suicidal ideation.

The novel opens with an italicized description of Mia Jacob escaping from the cult-like Community. She has been discovered with a cache of novels, which are forbidden for children and women in the Community. She is locked in a barn overnight to wait for her punishment the next day, when she will be whipped in the field and branded. She has hidden a hammer, which she uses to break the lock and free herself. Although the Community burned her books when they found them, she saved one: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. She escapes in the dark, cutting herself on thorns and making her way through the forest to the nearby town. She runs to the library, where the door will be open.

Ivy, Mia’s mother, was born and raised in an affluent neighborhood in Boston. Ivy’s father, Ken, was a wealthy banker, but Ivy didn’t fit the expectations of her suburban neighborhood. Her primary support was the family’s maid, Helen Connelly, who gave Ivy the key to her house in case of an emergency.