52 pages • 1 hour read
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
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Chapters 1-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of graphic violence, illness, death, pregnancy loss, and suicidal ideation.
Chapter 1 Summary
Mary is a teenage girl who lives in an unnamed village at the edge of the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Generations before Mary was born, the Return occurred. In this cataclysmic event, the dead became undead and began to attack the living. Now, Mary’s village is surrounded by high fences that fend off the undead, whom the villagers call Unconsecrated. If the fence is breached, a siren will sound, and everyone will flee to platforms in the trees. The village is ruled by the Sisterhood, a group of wise women who live in the village’s stone Cathedral. Additionally, the village is protected by a contingent of Guardians: men who check the fences. (The Guild is a select governing group of Guardians.)
Mary’s father was lost to the Unconsecrated months ago, and Mary and her brother Jed diligently monitor their grieving mother, understanding that they must prevent her from making contact with their now-Unconsecrated father. Jed is a Guardian, and his wife Beth is pregnant.
As the novel begins, Mary is rinsing laundry in the river, recalling her mother’s old stories about the fabled ocean. Suddenly, Beth’s brother Harold (Harry) approaches and asks Mary to the Harvest Celebration.
