Chevalier builds her story around a young woman named Honor
Bright, who travels from England to America with her sister.
Upon their arrival, the sister dies of a fever, and Honor finds
herself bouncing from one Quaker family to the next. She
eventually finds employment with the fiery Belle Mills, who owns
a millinery shop in Ohio. Belle has a brother named Donovan, who
is a slave catcher. The sexual tension between the egotistical
Donovan and the wide-eyed Honor is palpable, but aside from
making bonnets, writing letters and wondering about a Negro
womanwho visits the millinery shop, Honor does little until she
moves on to another town. There she meets Jack Haymaker, and
after a quick coupling in an open field, they wed. Honor works
at being a good wife and Quaker, and she tries but fails to do
away with the feelings she harbors for Donovan, who makes sudden
appearances throughout the story. For more than 100 pages one
wonders if any slaves, escapees or otherwise, will actually
appear. Honor is repulsed by sl