Where does evil reside? In witches or those most people would consider psychopathic? Not always. Sometimes it is discovered in ordinary people like Zelda who consider themselves to be good Christians—people who have been permanently warped by tragedy. Distortion follows distortion until innocence and naiveté disappear and everyday life is steeped in wilful, black destruction. Vain and arrogant, Zelda tells her own story. She carries to extremes her need to be the ruler of her world. When she becomes the sole guardian of her little sister, Netty, she blames her drunken French father for her mother's accidental death. Raised in the Oklahoma farmhouse, Zelda assumes control of the homestead and extends her hatred of Papa to all other males, including Cousin Noll whom she deliberately cripples to force him to work for her. When she discovers his collection of sun-colored glass bottles, she shatters his hoard. Over time, more help is needed on the farm. Zelda entices an itinerant potter to move in, work for her, and build his own kiln (which she tests by the secret murder of Netty's beloved kitten.) Netty is home-schooled, convinced that she is both sickly and shy. After Noll arrives, her world widens, but Ethan, the independent craftsman, alters it completely. Toward the end, Cousin Noll, crippled and desperate, tries again to escape. So does Ethan until she bribes him with land and payment if he will marry Netty and stay. He agrees but before their baby, Charles, is born he is loading his wares in his truck intending to leave what he considers to be dangerous oppression. In a parting act of defiance he comes to bed Zelda before he leaves. She agrees without a struggle, but afterwards, while he sleeps, overwhelmed by her loss of power, she ends his flight permanently. After that comes the turning point when Netty, learning the truth about her sister's past and her use of Ethan's kiln, for the first time in her life makes a decision for herself and child.