Blackbird House

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of rape.

This chapter switches to the first-person perspective of Ruth’s eldest daughter, 11-year-old Garnet. Her father, Lysander, has just died of influenza, and she describes the impact on her mother: Ruth weeps, wails, and eventually removes all their possessions from the home; she dyes everything red using the tree sap known as dragon’s blood, makes red pear pies, and cries red tears. Even the flames in the bonfire flicker hot blue only for an instant before turning deep red.

Through all this, Garnet cares for her sister, one-year-old Ruby. The townsfolk try to talk Ruth out of grieving because they fear a witch who has lost love. Garnet worries about what people think of her and vows to be careful about who she becomes. On the night that her mother stops wailing, Garnet feels uneasy, as if things are about to get worse. Going outside, she finds her mother by the pond’s edge, burning all their things. The fire is so massive that five farmers come to dowse the flames. After the men leave, Ruth remains at the pond and refuses to eat. The girl sees red grief oozing out of her mother and worries that she’ll disappear into the earth.