This novel is a tale of a young girl 's life named Julie. Julie had been through a lot including her only brother named Masenier dying and her Papa has, well, leaving her having to do all outside man work being the strong one in the family. Julie meets a guy named Hank and they get married and move to Gap Creek in South Carolina, where they get a house for cheap from a man named Mr. Pendergast who made a deal with them that they don 't have to pay rent as long as they do the household for him such as cooking and laundry. Ma Richards, who is Hanks mother, visits them who has nothing better to do it seems like but to blame others. Later on, the house caught on fire which Julie was finally able to put it out before it spread to the floors and walls after Mr. Pendergast being burned from a tank exploding while he was in …show more content…
Afterwards, an animal had killed the rest of the chickens from the neck so Julie cooked the chickens for food to hold them by to the springtime when they could finally grow some crops to eat. Julie had her baby on her own and she became sick so Hank looked after their baby girl who had died. They had her funeral in their backyard. The real lawyer representing the heirs of the house came by and served them papers saying how they were having to be sued if they couldn 't pay rent for the house, even though they never owed rent to Mr. Pendergast and also said that they had the right to sue every belonging of the couple to trade in for money. So in addition, Julie and Hank began to pack only what they could carry on their backs while Julie had found a $20 coin that Mr. Pendergast must have forgotten about. Additionally, they left the house early in the morning to having to start all over again, but they way the book ends leads you to believe that Julie is going to be expecting another child again and that even though they have no house, little money, and walking on foot with hardly any belongings, that they [ Julie and Hank] will overcome the struggles of