As the war drags on, Union blockades make it impossible to sell cotton, leading to an economic downturn. The residents and soldiers of Cane River realize that the war will not end as quickly as they assumed; letters from the front lines reveal the terrible conditions that the soldiers endure. People openly say they are sick of the war. The enslaved people of Cane River respond to the war with work slow-downs and by running away. Narcisse fears that he will have to leave Emily and Philomene if he is conscripted, but he buys his way out of fighting by using a loophole designed for enslavers.

Bowing to public pressure, Narcisse finally enlists, leaving the women in his extended family to move to Oreline and Houbre’s isolated farm. Philomene works the fields of food crops, and Oreline takes care of house chores. Working outdoors leaves Philomene darker-skinned and scarred, and she wonders if Narcisse will still be attracted to her when he returns. As the war continues, both families, Black and white, eat at the table together; all of the children, regardless of race, handle the chores. Philomene discovers that she is pregnant.

One day, Confederate soldiers come and burn all the cotton and the barn to prevent Union soldiers from taking it. A mule kicks Philomene in the stomach as she removes the animal from the barn, leading to a miscarriage. Union soldiers burn several plantation houses.

Emancipation arrives. Oreline believes that she has been kind to Philomene, and she therefore holds that Philomene should work for her on her farm as a sharecropper. Philomene tells Oreline that a mule cannot be grateful for not having been beaten; she angrily criticizes Oreline for letting Narcisse sell Clement. However, Philomene tempers her responses when she remembers that a white woman like Oreline still has the power to harm her. She leaves.

Narcisse returns and recovers some of his wealth with cotton that he hid during the war. He is still besotted with Philomene and is excited about the potential for more children. He moves Philomene to a cabin on another farm, which a man named Richard Grant owns. After Narcisse refuses to give her land, Philomene becomes a sharecropper for Grant. Her family, including Gerant, joins her there. However, Narcisse still dominates Philomene’s life: He won’t let anyone teach Emily to read.

Philomene gives Narcisse another false glimpsing that shows her in a grander home, but she worries about the strength of her hold on him, given the physical harm that the war years did to her body. She wonders about Clement because “[s]he had been living as if man-woman love were dead, substituting man-woman practicality, and she wasn’t sure what would happen if Clement found her now, hard and used” (286). Still, Philomene holds on to the glimpsing of her whole family seated at one table.

Yellow John, one of Elisabeth’s lost sons from the Virginia plantation where Elisabeth lived before, finds Elisabeth. For Elisabeth’s part, “[i]nstead of the joy of reunion, she felt the theft of the past years that had taken so much from both of them” (294). Yellow John tells her that Clement was on the same plantation, but he died before he could self-emancipate or be freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. He died of a water moccasin bite that he got while crossing water: a demise that fulfills Philomene’s prophecy. Elisabeth dreads sharing the news because Philomene has become the head of the family and makes important decisions. However, Philomene is unemotional. She merely remarks that Clement’s death let him avoid learning about the deaths of his children and her relationship with Narcisse.

Elisabeth dubs herself a Jackson to mark her freedom and encourages the other women in her family to assume the name as well. Suzette meets her old love Nicolas at one of Doralise’s parties—rare events where people who were free before the war mingle with people who have been freed by the war. Initially, she doesn’t tell the family about meeting Nicolas, as she enjoys having something of her own for once. The two eventually marry. Suzette refuses to move to Richard Grant’s place with Philomene and the others, and she thinks that Philomene’s dream of sharecropping and earning enough money to buy land is unrealistic. Philomene is shocked when her mother marries. She asks her mother if she ever really loved Eugene Daurat. Suzette tells her that she did not love him, explaining, “Eugene Daurat and me, there was no choice. Love is pull. That was all push” (307). Philomene is even more shocked when Suzette tells her that others in her family and in the community are marrying because such relationships can now be recognized by law. She suggests that Philomene consider that option for herself.

Philomene focuses on securing her children’s future. She prevents Emily from playing in the sun because she fears that it will darken the girl’s skin. She wants Emily (and her brother Eugene, another child fathered by Narcisse) to keep their skin light enough that they can pass for white. Elisabeth warns Philomene that her colorism is dangerous and destroys families. Philomene knows that this is true, since her children will only be able to pass if her olive skin isn’t there to give away their Black heritage. Philomene does value other things about her daughter, who has an eye for color and beauty and a strong personality. The girl has also gained the ability to read despite Narcisse’s prohibition. Meanwhile, Narcisse begins having sex with other women, including white ones, and he is also less generous with money. Philomene gives him a false glimpsing, claiming that he will never be able to have children except with her. He is a little skeptical but ultimately believes her. Narcisse unilaterally decides to send Emily away to be educated at a convent school in New Orleans.

Narcisse takes Emily to New Orleans and installs her at the school. He feels miserable about the separation, but he entrusts her to his good friend Joseph Billes, an enterprising French immigrant. The two men enjoy visiting each other. Joseph charms Emily during their first meeting. Narcisse’s stories about Cane River enchant him. As Emily’s year winds down, Narcisse has financial difficulties. He creates a marginally legal money-making scheme and asks Joseph to invest with him, and Joseph gladly agrees to come to Cane River. Narcisse has a portrait of Emily painted to capture her appearance in the time between childhood and adulthood.

Joseph builds a store on land that he names Billes Landing. He visits Emily and her family often. Emily is only 14, and the women strictly chaperone Emily because her love for Joseph is obvious. They want no more child mothers in the family now that they are free. When Emily is 16, Joseph and Emily begin meeting secretly in the woods, and Emily gets pregnant with a girl whom she names Angelite. Marriage is impossible because of societal pressure and law, but Joseph talks openly of building a life with Emily and Angelite. The people of Cane River gossip about the couple, calling their liaison unnatural.

Narcisse sleeps with different white women, and when one of them has a baby girl, he realizes that Philomene’s glimpsing was false, so he ends his relationship with Philomene. She insists that he provide for his children, but he tells her that anything he gave them was out of generosity, considering their race. When Philomene tells him that she is pregnant again, he punches her and taunts her by telling her that Bet is still alive and is on a nearby farm. While everyone on Oreline’s farm had yellow fever, he took Bet away to someone who could care for her and never retrieved her.

His rage subsides, and Narcisse slumps into the moonlight chair. He offers to give a tract of 163 acres to their children. Philomene tells Narcisse to get out of her chair, and after he leaves, she calms down and reflects that she has always wanted land. She later has Narcisse sign over the land, and her entire extended family—Bet included—moves there. Her vision of her entire family at one table comes true.