In 1920, St Catherine’s Church dominates much of the life in the little Wisconsin town of Twin Pines. Henri and Sybylle Prevett begit eight children, six girls and two boys who grow up in a two story, square house built a few yards from the Wisconsin River. With the Blessed Virgin as a model, Sybylle exhorts her daughters to live a virtuous life. One girl dies of tuberculosis at age 15, but the remaining five must find a way to not suffocate in Sybylle’s Catholicism. The town knows them as the Prevett girls who never marry and eventually totter into Church. They are labelled as old maids, thought to be near lifeless and nearly indistinguishable.

Edna, the oldest girl, challenges her mother directly and leaves Twin Pines for a serious career in retail fashion. Vexing her mother, she exalts in the lifestyle of the big city. But the Great Depression eventually brings her back to Twin Pines and the family home. Enough of her voluptuous presence returns as well and ignites desire and foolishness in an older admirer.

Claudia, leaving behind a mystery of a small grave in the Catholic cemetery, takes the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Assigned the duties of historian by her order, she barely speaks above a whisper when she makes an infrequent visit back home. Most of the family accept that the order has become her family, and without looking much closer, they dismiss her story when they recall the Prevett history.

Helen becomes the housekeeper for the Prevett family after the death of her suitor during World War I. Expressing literal hate for her mother, she draws any expression of joy from her face. Sybylle appears oblivious to Helen’s feelings and willingly practices the social freedom allowed now that Helen tends to the household chores. But Helen tells us that she uses her face to not betray who she loves and how she loves.

Corrine, thin and plain, carries love in abundance that fails to align with any protocol of the times, any traditional description of loving relationships. For over 50 years, she works as the librarian for the city. Speaking in a whisper and eventually displaying a slight tremor, she scares even the boldest of children and patrons of the library. City fathers who like simple stories, thought it wonderful how she directed her sole attention on the library when they honored her at retirement. No one should judge her decision to accept and exercise her final love.

Laura, a demonstrably happy and self assured child, holds steadfast in a long friendship with Sarah Cummins. One would not quickly feel sorry or disappointed for Laura, but the full tale–difficult to tell–draws sympathy toward Sarah. Laura knows enough of the splendor of her life with Sarah to want it told to others. She entrusts a carefully explained story to her grand nephew, Babe.

Steven, a failed seminarian, begat 4 children who feel his indifference. But he’s a street philosopher, a moralist who kicks back at the faith of his parents, Henri and Sybylle, and he does so in a public way. A young doctor new to Twin Pines performs an abortion for a girl caught in a dysfunctional family. The priest and nuns target the doctor with expulsion from the Catholic run hospital. But Steven steps forward and demonstrates more complex moral reasoning for the parishioners of St. Catherine’s.

One of Steven’s sons, Will, essentially inherits the position of patriarch at the passing of Henri. He becomes responsible for his great aunts who will cling to the old house on the river until they die. Will is practical and broad minded, hardened by the Great Depression. He becomes frustrated when his family and the community-at-large looks away from the obvious carnal relationship between the parish priest and his waif of a house keeper, the same priest who yells “sinner” at the young doctor. Will’s devotion to Nata, his wife, doesn’t easily fit with his tempered views of religion. Nata appears to carry the same fervor for the creeds of the Catholic Church as Sybylle, but as she dies, Nata struggles to reconcile her love for her family and their violation of creed that surely lands them in hell.

Will and Nata have four boys. The oldest, Carl, and the youngest, Babe, soundly reject their Catholic past, but they thrive on the legacy of their Prevett ancestors. Babe will be the last Prevett to set children at the feet of his great aunts still living in the ram shackle house by the river.