The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree

Jezzie sees her father pulling up to pick her up and wonders what’s going on. She is instantly filled with dread as she gets in the car and hears her father tell her about how she needs to learn the duties of a wife and will be leaving school at the end of the year to marry an older man. Jezzie protests severely and throws up in the car when she thinks about her father teaching her “wife lessons.” This enrages John Luther, who pulls over on a side road and whips Jezzie with his belt as she burns on the hood of the car. He then drags her back into the car and takes her home, where he demands that she cook him dinner.

As Jezzie does so, she imagines all the ways she might kill him, but she never gets a proper chance. When Jezzie asks John Luther how much money he’s getting for her marriage, John Luther flies into a rage and lunges at her. A long entanglement ensues as Jezzie attempts to defend herself against her father’s violence. Wreath arrives home and tries to intervene, but John Luther slams her into the wall. She falls to the ground, unmoving. John Luther grabs Jezzie, ties her hands, and takes her to the church as she wonders whether her mother was just killed.

John Luther hears angels singing to him and sees the archangel Michael. He goes into the church and picks up the body of a deceased elderly woman lying there. He demands that Jezzie witness his miracle as he removes the woman’s body and brings it to the cemetery, where he plans to resurrect her. He uncovers her grave and finds several snakes underneath, and Michael tells him to pick one up to prove his faith. John Luther does so, and the snake lunges at him.

Jezzie manages to slip out of view while John Luther is in the throes of his delusion and hides as she watches him leave the church. As a storm comes into full force around her, she runs from the church and to the office, where she attempts to call home. Nobody answers, so she calls Genevieve and begs for her to come help. After hanging up, Jezzie starts to make her way home to see if her mother is still alive.

After Genevieve hangs up the phone, Mercer demands to know what’s going on. Genevieve reminds him that he’s been wrapped up in his own problems and would have noticed if he were paying attention, but she tells him everything anyway. Mercer listens in silent anger as the two of them drive to the church to find Jezzie. When they get there, they cannot find her anywhere.

Mercer and Genevieve run through the church and cemetery desperately looking for Jezzie and dodging lightning strikes as they go. Bigger appears and tries to stop them, and he recognizes that Mercer has entered a flashback. Mercer looks around and sees the monsoons of Vietnam and believes that there are men that need saving. Bigger urges him to go home and save his mother, and Mercer nods.

Going into the house to find out if Wreath is okay is difficult for Genevieve, but she follows Mercer inside. Upon seeing Wreath, she is sure that she’s dead, but Mercer confirms that she is alive and begins treating her wounds. After helping the wounded Wreath and Jezzie into their beds, Genevieve and Mercer crawl into bed together and hold each other after one of the most trying nights of their lives. Genevieve is sure that John Luther is dead after Bigger implied it, and Mercer is relieved to hear it.

John Luther’s death becomes an instant town legend. Wreath manages to keep ownership of her home after Delilah discovers that the will that John Luther wrote is gone, and Wreath sends her off to live in an apartment nearby. Wreath warns Delilah that if she tries to challenge her, she will tell Jared about how she murdered his brother.

Mercer goes to the home of Bigger’s parents and introduces himself as Bigger’s best friend. They invite him inside, and he tells them about how Bigger, whose real name is Leon, was his most loyal companion in the war. Mercer describes all of Bigger’s strongest traits, like his endless sense of humor, his care of sick children, and the way he helped Mercer when he landed in Vietnam.

Mercer also tells Bigger’s parents about how he died saving the others from a grenade by turning himself into a human shield. Before Bigger died, he smiled knowing that he had saved everyone else. Bigger’s parents thank Mercer before he leaves, and Mercer goes out the door, passing Bigger’s spirit on the way.

Mercer goes to his family’s home for a belated welcome-home party. He is greeted warmly by his mother and siblings, as well as Genevieve, and a massive feast. Bigger sits nearby and tells a ghost story through Mercer for the children. Afterward, he disappears for what feels like the last time.

Mercer leaves again, and it saddens Genevieve, though she understands why he felt suffocated by being at home. Leah finds her stride in tending to sick animals, while Jezzie makes her way through high school with top grades. Life seems to improve for everyone, and Wreath eases up more with each day. When Mercer’s friend stops by with an envelope filled with money for Genevieve, she feels insulted and infuriated but has no option but to take it.

Later, Wreath invites Genevieve out for a drive to visit a friend named Macelyn. Macelyn’s property is filled with trees covered in blue bottles, which Wreath explains are to ward off spirits. Afterward, Wreath and Genevieve stop at Meema’s old property, where Wreath hands Genevieve the deed to the land. She explains that she had been holding it for years after Meema entrusted her with it. Wreath also gifts Genevieve some “glory of the world” rose slips from her garden, which Genevieve then plants on Meema’s grave.

In a refuge by the creek built for her by Mercer, Leah relaxes with her dog Spot and builds a fire. When it is ready, she takes out John Luther’s will and burns it.