The novel’s narrator, Rukmani, reflects on her life—primarily her deceased husband and her remaining children who continue to build a life for her and themselves. Her children guide her to recall her childhood.

In her family, she is the youngest of six children. At 12 years old, she marries a poor farmer working on a landowner’s farm because her family cannot afford a dowry by the time of her wedding. While her family used to have status because her father was head of the village, this has changed, and Rukmani’s brother notes that the Collector—a colonial officer who collects revenue from villages—has the power.

She leaves home to live with her new husband, Nathan, in a home he built, a fact she does not know until her neighbors tell her. As she settles into her new role as a wife, she makes friends with neighbors, including Kunthi, a young pregnant woman. When she is not washing clothes or doing household chores, she shops in town and grows vegetables in their backyard, including pumpkins, beans, and sweet potatoes.