Content Warning: These Summary and Analyses sections, particularly pages 39-48, contain references to rape, child sexual abuse, and representations of physical violence.

From an early age, Allison told herself stories to escape the reality of her life. In the stories she told about herself, Allison was a woman who had run away. Her mothers and aunts stayed put, bound to the South by children and their decisions to see a hard life or marriage out to the end. Allison’s Aunt “Dot” (Dorothy) was just such a woman. She claimed that “‘there’s only two or three things I know for sure’” (5), although what those might be changed from time to time. This is the source of the book’s title. A picture of Ruth Gibson in a sundress and sandals appears here.

Allison remembers how gorgeous Greenville, South Carolina was and how good it smelled. It was a terrible place, however, and she loved and hated it in equal measure. No one wanted to talk about family history because the family had so many secrets, a lesson Allison learned after the women in her family (especially her mother) refused to share many details that she needed for a family tree project.