Redeeming Love

In New England in 1835, 6-year-old Sarah meets Alex Stafford for the first time. She was conceived during an affair, and Sarah’s mother, Mae, begs Alex to acknowledge his child for the first time. His cold reticence hurts Mae and Sarah. Mae and Alex argue, and Sarah can feel “Mama’s fingers trembling” (11). Alex sends Sarah away while he and Mae fight; Alex wanted Mae to get an abortion, but she refused on moral grounds. Mae says that she has given up everything for Alex because her community ostracized her. Alex believes Sarah is “ruining everything” (14) and wishes she were never born. There is a crash from inside, and Sarah runs and hides. She hears Alex leave on his horse.

Sarah returns home to find her mother with a bruise on her face. Mae makes excuses for Alex, who does not return. Mae becomes “thin and wan” (15). Sarah and Cleo try to cheer her up but fail; Sarah blames herself and begins to resent Alex. One day, Mae announces that Sarah is to take a trip to the seashore with Cleo. Sarah knows that it is because her father is returning and does not want to see her. Cleo takes Sarah on the coach and the journey is arduous. Sarah finally hears waves for the first time as they approach the shore. They enter a bar and see two men fighting. Cleo laughs, seemingly having “forgotten Sarah” (21), and talks with the men whom she seems to know. A big man named Merrick reminds Sarah of the “pirate stores Mama told her” (21).  

Merrick scares Sarah but seems friendly with Cleo. He gives ale to Cleo and watered-down wine to Sarah. They drink. Sarah pretends to sleep on the table. She hears Cleo admit that Alex and Mae are together and that she is “so angry” (23) at being stuck with Sarah. Merrick jokes about throwing Sarah into the sea. He joins them when they walk upstairs; Merrick threatens to cut out Sarah’s “little pink tongue” (24) if she tells Mae that he was with Cleo in the room. He forcibly kisses Cleo. When Cleo protests, Merrick decides to put Sarah out in the hallway. Sarah sits in the hallway and listens to Cleo and Merrick have sex. After Merrick leaves, Cleo forgets to collect Sarah, who remains huddled in the hallway.

Cleo wakes up the next day feeling hungover. She only remembers Sarah when stepping out into the hallway. Sarah cries and Cleo feels annoyed and guilty. That night, Cleo puts Sarah to bed early and gets drunk again. Merrick does not return, so Cleo goes to bed with a bottle of rum and vents to Sarah. When Sarah tries to block Cleo out, Cleo forces her to listen. Cleo says that Alex “doesn’t care about anyone, least of all [Sarah],” and Mae “lives for the next time she’ll see [Alex]” (27). Cleo falls into a drunken sleep, and Sarah lays awake all night thinking.

They return home the next day. Sarah knows something is wrong; Mae is packing boxes ahead of a visit to Sarah’s grandparents. Cleo is dismissed. In the middle of the night, Sarah sees her mother destroying the flowers in the garden. They ride in a coach for days, and Sarah hears her mother praying for forgiveness. They arrive at a house and Mae knocks. Mae’s mother answers and Mae asks to come home. Mae’s father says no, however, because he considers that “his daughter is dead” (30). Mae begs but to no end.

They sell their possessions and move from place to place, eventually settling “in a shack near the docks of New York” (30). Mae becomes a prostitute, entertaining the “rough men at the docks” (30). She cries and drinks heavily. For a while, Uncle Rab stays with them and “tries to provide” (31). Other children tease Sarah and she learns not to cry. Mae dies when Sarah is 8. Rab weeps but Sarah cannot. When Rab disappears for two days, he returns while Sarah is asleep and says that he has a plan: he introduces a man who “works for a man who wants to adopt a little girl” (34). The man gives Rab enough money to get Sarah cleaned up and then tells him to take her to an address. Rab takes Sarah to a woman named Stella, who washes and dresses Sarah. When Rab returns (drunk again), Sarah begs him to keep her. But he refuses, as he has “got enough problems” (35).

Rab leads Sarah through dark streets to a big house. They are led inside by a servant, and Sarah marvels at the finery on display. A woman named Sally introduces herself to Sarah; she tells Rab to wait in a room upstairs but cryptically advises him to “leave now [and] take her home” (36) as he will not see Sarah again after tonight. Rab takes Sarah upstairs, helping himself to the alcohol stored in the crystal bottles and pocketing anything valuable. A “tall, dark stranger” (37) enters, flanked by the man who had inspected Sarah near the docks. When asked, Rab forgets Sarah’s name. The tall stranger plucks bills from his pocket and offers them to Rab without looking. Rab takes them. Sarah is scared. When Rab splutters his thanks, he says the man’s name twice and a furious expression crosses the man’s face. Sarah wants to warn Rab, but she is too afraid. The man from the docks loops a cord around Rab’s neck and strangles him. Sarah runs for the door, but it is locked. Rab dies and Sarah screams. The tall man takes hold of Sarah and she struggles to no avail. He instructs the other man to dump Rab’s body in the river and return anything Rab stole. The man then washes the cheap make-up from Sarah’s face and tells her that she is “much too pretty for paint” (39). He decides to call her Angel and tells her to call him Duke. He begins to unbutton his shirt.