This interlude presents a sign for the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum for Girls, which was founded in 1927. The sign details the institution’s highly restrictive and discriminatory admissions policy. It lists numerous categories of individuals who are not eligible for admission, including various non-white racial and ethnic groups, Jewish people, and twins. The asylum also denies entry to children with illnesses, physical disabilities, or intellectual disabilities. Other rules prohibit boys, girls over the age of 12, and pregnant women, with the sign specifying that the facility does not deliver babies.

The narrative jumps back several months earlier to July 1933 at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum for Girls, to follow the perspective of 11-year-old Margot, known as “Meg.” Two years into her stay at the orphan asylum, she no longer fantasizes about her mother returning for her. She describes the orphanage’s layout, which includes a pleasant, public-facing vestibule but grim, poorly maintained quarters for the older girls, who are served meager food and sleep on stained mattresses. 

Meg has been forced to stay in the bookkeeper’s office, a small, mildewed room with a boarded-up window, by the orphanage head, Miss Garnett Pittman. She is relentlessly tormented by another orphan, Dorella, who nicknames her “Nutmeg.” Meg misses her best friend, Ava, who once protected her from Dorella, but was sent to a cannery in Biloxi as soon as she turned 12 two months earlier.

In the office, Meg is forced to copy Bible verses under the supervision of Miss Garnett, a woman she describes as manipulative and obsessed with the societal threat of the “feebleminded woman.” Miss Garnett has imposed cruel rules at the orphanage, like forbidding the girls from receiving mail, and has singled her out for special punishment.

Meg’s isolation began after she drew a picture titled “Jesus Gives Judas the Finger” for Miss Pripp’s Bible story hour, where the prize was a red pencil. Miss Pripp and Miss Spencer showed the drawing to Miss Garnett, who called a committee meeting and, as a result of that committee decision, permanently removed Meg from the schoolroom. Meg recalls the “work program” Miss Garnett established to send older girls to a cannery, ostensibly to learn a skill. She remembers the night before Ava left for the cannery, when Ava forced her to confront the painful truth that their mothers had abandoned them and would not be coming back. The memory of Ava’s departure is still fresh and painful.

In a flashback, Meg remembers her life with her mother in a small house outside Oxford. Her mother worked as a cleaner for a wealthy family, the Coopers, and was strict with Meg about manners. Fearing judgment from the community, she taught Meg how to lie convincingly, instructing her to tell people that her father died in the war when he had actually abandoned them. This lesson became critical after Meg’s teacher, Miss Pettybone, threatened to report them to the authorities for not attending church.

The narrative returns to the orphanage, where Meg recalls that on repeated early visits to the office, Miss Garnett combed her hair while muttering that Meg was an unclean child born to a “lascivious, irresponsible, feebleminded woman,” adding that Meg was her “burden to bear now” (29). Meg was confused and could not understand the accusation.

Birdie stands at a rural train stop in Footely, Mississippi, with her mother, Doris, and her grandmother, Meemaw. She is on her way to visit her sister, Frances, in Oxford, a trip she does not want to take. The purpose of the visit is to ask Frances for a loan. Meemaw suggests she pretend the visit is an early birthday surprise for Frances to soften the intrusion. 

A flashback to two days earlier reveals the family’s desperate financial situation. Because of the Great Depression, the Calhouns are nearly two years behind on property taxes and have just learned that their wealthy neighbors, the Tates, have lost their plantation for failing to resolve their taxes. Frances has been ignoring their letters and telegrams for weeks, heightening her mother’s anxiety. Despite her reluctance to ask for help and miss work, Birdie is pressured by her mother and Meemaw to go to Oxford and secure the money needed to save their home.

On the train to Oxford, Birdie reflects on her strained relationship with her younger, prettier sister, Frances. Though once close, they grew apart after Frances befriended the wealthy Mathilda Tate and became more concerned with social status. Birdie recalls that both sisters came down with mumps at 16; Frances recovered, but Birdie’s fever persisted and developed into encephalitis, diagnosed by a doctor in Jackson, which left her infertile. Afterward, their father, a civil engineer, began teaching Birdie practical skills like car maintenance. After their father’s sudden death, Frances left for finishing school and soon married a wealthy banker, Roderick “Rory” Tartt, without inviting her family to the wedding.

As the train nears Oxford, Birdie sees groups of displaced sharecroppers walking along the highway, a stark image of the Great Depression’s toll. The sight intensifies her shame and dread about having to ask her sister for money. She arrives at the depot feeling weary and anxious.

Meg’s days in the office are monotonous and lonely. She counts the days until she can join Ava at the cannery, her only hope for escape. When the orphanage staff is distracted by a baby with a fever and the coat closet is left unlocked, Meg seizes the opportunity to sneak in. She steals a Life magazine and a letter addressed to her bully, Dorella. Although she is nearly caught by a volunteer named Miss Frances, Meg lies her way out of trouble.

Back in the office, she becomes completely absorbed in the magazine, which offers a thrilling glimpse of the outside world. Her escape is short-lived; Miss Garnett finds her with the magazine and takes her to the “belt closet” for a severe whipping. That night, despite the pain in her legs, Meg gives the letter to Dorella on the condition that she read it aloud. The letter is from Dorella’s mother, who apologizes for abandoning her.

In another flashback, Meg remembers her life with her mother becoming increasingly difficult. For childcare, her mother relied on Ophelia Lee, a kind, elderly Black woman who raised hunting dogs for a living. One day, Meg’s mother was abruptly fired from her job after someone sent a slanderous letter to her employer, Mrs. Cooper. Unable to find new work, their finances became dire. One evening, her mother went to town to sell “taxi rides” (a euphemism for sex work) and returned with money, though she looked deeply unhappy. It was an unsettling and ambiguous event that Meg could not fully understand.

Birdie arrives at Idlewilde, the grand Tartt family mansion in Oxford. Her sister, Frances, is annoyed by the unannounced visit and makes her enter through the back door to avoid being seen by the important women she is hosting from the Senior Orphan Committee.

In the kitchen, Birdie meets the household maids, two sisters named Polly and Picador. When Frances finally appears, she chastises Birdie for her rustic appearance and admits she has worked hard to distance herself from their “poor country” origins. After a luxurious hot bath, Birdie meets her mother-in-law, Mrs. Viktoria Tartt, a pleasant woman who is nothing like the “witch” Frances had described. At dinner, Birdie also meets Frances’s husband, Rory Tartt, a polite but stressed young banker who quickly excuses himself to work in his study.

The next morning, Birdie makes coffee and explores the house before anyone else is awake. At breakfast, Frances unsuccessfully lobbies Rory for an expensive birthday trip. Rory, citing financial pressures, declines. After he leaves, Frances informs Birdie that she has arranged for her to help with bookkeeping at the orphanage.

A taxi takes them into town, and Frances drops Birdie off at the square while she goes to volunteer. Birdie explores the shops and courthouse, but when she mentions to two different men that she is related to the Tartts, they react with cool disdain. That evening, Birdie finds Frances in her bedroom and explains their family’s desperate need for a $250 loan to avoid foreclosure. Frances is hesitant, admitting Rory is anxious about the subject of money, but agrees to ask him after her birthday in three weeks. She persuades a reluctant Birdie to stay until then. Later, unable to sleep, Birdie reflects on her own loneliness and her sister’s deep-seated fear of it.