Grace has had a difficult childhood, placed in multiple foster families due to bold and sometimes overwhelming personality. She's willing to do anything to make things work with Mama G so that she can stay with her younger sister Hannah. Mama G, sees things as they are, and it's not Hannah she feels a connection to, but Grace. This is reflected when the book shifts to it's current time, and Hannah, after much absence has died and left Grace in charge of her daughter Daisy and Mama G, who's now suffering from Alzheimer's. For Grace, who finally had her life together, this is a tough blow compounded by a move to Dove Pond to care for her family.