Howard moves the family from White House to the isolated countryside to escape Babylon's influence.

Howard leaves Jamaica to pursue a recording contract in Japan, leaving Esther alone with the children.

Howard returns from Japan empty-handed and furious after his bassist betrays him and the band collapses.

Esther twists all of the children's hair into dreadlocks after a ringworm outbreak spreads at school.

Safiya wins a scholarship to St. James College, a prestigious private school.

Howard beats the children with a red leather belt for the first time after they eat all the cherries from the yard tree.

Safiya catches Howard secretly watching naked women on television, seeing him as a hypocrite for the first time.

The Old Poet, editor of the Jamaica Observer's literary magazine, calls Safiya and offers to publish her poems.

Esther attempts to leave Howard after he asks the children about taking a second wife; they beg her to return.

A US modeling scout tells Safiya she cannot model with dreadlocks; Howard refuses to let her cut them.

Howard kicks Safiya out of his home after she stands up to his verbal abuse; Esther defies him and refuses to allow it.

Safiya gets her hair chemically straightened; Howard does not speak to her for an entire year.

Esther cuts off her own dreadlocks and tells Howard she no longer loves him, ending their relationship.

Howard punches Safiya during an argument and then threatens to kill her with a machete; Lij rescues Safiya and Shari.

Safiya and Howard reconcile at her poetry reading at the Calabash Literary Festival, with Howard watching from the audience.

This pool traces the backbone of Safiya Sinclair's memoir, from her father Howard's decision to isolate his family in the Jamaican countryside to their hard-won emotional reconciliation decades later. Howard's failed music career in Japan transforms him into an increasingly abusive patriarch, and his obsession with his daughters' purity drives escalating violence in the home. Safiya's path to liberation runs through her poetry, which earns her a mentor in the editor of the Jamaica Observer's literary magazine and eventually a way out of Jamaica. Howard's refusal to let her cut her dreadlocks ends a promising modeling career, forcing her to rely entirely on writing. After Howard attacks her with a machete, Safiya escapes to graduate school in the United States, and the two finally reach an emotional reckoning at a poetry festival in Jamaica.

The core events of Safiya's escape from her father's control.

A four-year-old Safiya wanders into the ocean and nearly drowns; Esther rescues her and never tells Howard.

Howard meets Esther at a homecoming party in Montego Bay, and the two spend all night talking and bonding.

Howard brings home two dogs that the children name Reagan and Thatcher; both are later lost or killed during break-ins.

Howard performs in Montego Bay with his children on stage beside him, before departing for Japan a second time.

Esther gives birth to Shari; Howard becomes increasingly obsessed with protecting all three of his daughters' purity.

Howard forces his children to drink a plant potion he brews to protect their purity, causing them to cry and vomit.

Safiya deliberately steps on a rusty nail at a school carnival after Monique sends a note ending their friendship.

Esther gives Safiya a poetry collection to comfort her after the nail incident; Safiya writes her first poem, titled 'The Butterfly.'

Mrs. Pinnock publicly humiliates Safiya about her henna-stained hands at a school-wide assembly.

Howard brings a woman named Reina home from Japan and spends his nights at her hotel during her visit.

Safiya learns that Cassandra has been forced to leave St. James because she became pregnant, leaving Safiya shocked and ashamed.

Esther insists Howard stop physically abusing the children; he puts the belt away but becomes increasingly verbally abusive.

Esther uses money earned from her resort teaching job to pay for Safiya's broken tooth to be repaired.

Ife earns the highest examination scores in all of Jamaica and is scouted for a full scholarship at a US private school.

Lij's girlfriend gives birth to a daughter named Cataleya; Safiya resolves to write her memoir for future Sinclair women.

These events capture the texture of Safiya's daily life in Jamaica — the scenes that reveal how her family's world was constructed and then slowly unraveled. From her near-drowning as a toddler and her parents' late-night meeting at a party, to the early years of their Rastafari life and the arrival of youngest sister Shari, the pool traces the foundations of Sinclair family life. As Safiya grows up, moments of joy — her father's concerts, her first poem — are shadowed by her father's escalating paranoia and her mother's quiet suffering. Secondary characters like the family's beloved dogs, the pregnant Cassandra, and the visiting Reina each illuminate a different facet of Howard's control and hypocrisy. Ultimately, the birth of Safiya's niece Cataleya brings the story full circle, giving Safiya the purpose she needs to finally write her memoir.

The secondary moments that built and broke the Sinclair world.

Safiya sees a vision of the Woman in White — a worn-down future version of herself — and resolves to escape her father's world.

Safiya overhears her teacher and colleagues mock her dreadlocks and Rastafari upbringing, leaving her ashamed and questioning her worth.

Lij accidentally breaks Safiya's tooth while roughhousing; Howard calls Safiya vain over her tears, and she stops smiling.

Howard calls Safiya 'gwal' — a gendered Rastafari insult — for the first time, devastating the bond between them.

Safiya discovers the poet Sylvia Plath on the family's secondhand computer after graduation and becomes obsessed with her work.

Safiya begins private poetry lessons with the Old Poet and moves to her grandmother Sweet P's house to gain more freedom.

The Old Poet forcibly kisses Safiya during a private lesson, betraying her trust and leaving her feeling powerless and marked.

Safiya's poem 'Silver' wins second place at the Jamaica Observer Literary Awards, making her the youngest-ever winner.

Esther confesses to Safiya during their Washington DC visit that she had believed Howard's conspiracy theories about Babylon until that moment.

Safiya gets her ears pierced in Miami without Howard's permission, knowing he will be furious when she returns home.

Howard sees Safiya's pierced ears, declares she has lost her purity, and begins burning myrrh and frankincense daily to purify the household.

Safiya falls ill with fever and secretly has her dreadlocks cut off at home without Howard's knowledge.

Safiya meets celebrated poet Derek Walcott at a Kingston workshop; he invites her to audit his class in Boston.

An email from Mama Lee reveals that Howard has a secret second family, finally freeing Esther from his hold.

Safiya returns to Jamaica and finds that Howard has placed his children's trophies beside Haile Selassie's portrait on his dresser.

This pool traces the pivotal moments of self-discovery, disillusionment, and defiance that pushed Safiya steadily toward freedom. From the haunting vision of the Woman in White that opens the memoir to the discovery of Sylvia Plath's poetry that sustains her after graduation, each event marks a shift in Safiya's understanding of herself and her captivity. Betrayals accumulate — the Old Poet's sexual assault, Howard's secret second family — but so do unexpected acts of liberation, like getting her ears pierced in Miami or secretly cutting off her dreadlocks while sick with fever. Literary achievements, from winning her first major award to meeting Derek Walcott, give Safiya the evidence she needs that a life beyond Howard is possible. By the end, a transformed Howard placing his children's trophies beside Haile Selassie's portrait gives Safiya the emotional closure she needs to finally tell her story.