Daisy is both the protagonist and the omniscient narrator of the novel. The novel begins with her birth in 1905 in a small village called Tyndall in Manitoba, Canada, where her mother, Mercy, dies during childbirth. Early on in her childhood, Daisy develops a self-awareness and reflective tendency that she exercises throughout her life. She often wonders about her place in the world and what her soul means, and she laments a lack of connection to her mother.

After her mother’s death, the family’s neighbor, Clarentine Flett, takes Daisy to Winnipeg to raise her. Daisy lives the first 11 years of her life in Clarentine's care, along with Clarentine's son, Barker. In 1916, Cuyler retrieves Daisy and takes her to Indiana. During her childhood in Indiana, Daisy meets her friends Fraidy and Beans, and they attend college together. As Daisy matures and faces society’s expectations of her, these lifelong friends offer her two contrasting examples of the paths women may take.

At 22, Daisy marries Harold A. Hoad, a heavy drinker who falls out a window and dies on their honeymoon, leaving Daisy a widow. As she does many times over the course of her life, Daisy begins to wish for something more for her life, and she travels to Canada again in 1936, where she meets with Barker.