Page "The Tie That Binds (novel)" Paragraph 2

Very soon Ada regrets leaving Iowa for the plains of Colorado.

Her husband turns out to be a bully, an angry and violent man without any sense of humour who makes her and their children work very hard on the farm.

When she dies in 1914, aged only 42, Edith has to take over all of Ada's chores and duties (" Your mother's dead.

You're the mother now .").

Then, in 1915, a terrible accident during harvesttime seals Edith's fate: Her father's hands get entangled in a machine, and nine of his fingers are chopped off.

This severe physical handicap leaves Roy Goodnough all the more cruel and demanding ; he considers, and treats, Edith and Lyman as his " self-sired farmhands ", bossing them around and taking all decisions himself.