The Robber Bride

Charis dreams of Karen’s spirit entering her body, though it may be Zenia in the guise of Karen. She and Billy make love that night, but she feels disconnected, and when her daughter is conceived, she wonders if part of Zenia is in her. Billy is now even more insistent that Zenia leave, and Charis is beginning to agree with him, but she still believes Zenia’s story about West threatening to kill her. She is torn between wanting Zenia gone—she needs the extra bedroom for a nursery—and wanting to see her fully cured.

One night, Zenia reads Charis’s cards, predicting changes—someone new coming into her life, and someone else leaving. She claims her reading ability comes from her mother, a Romani woman who was stoned to death during the war. She then deals her own cards and turns over a Queen of Spades: “Some say it’s the death card” (302), she utters cryptically, leaving a final seed of doubt in Charis’s mind before turning in for the night.

Winter on the Island is hard. The drafty house has no insulation, farm chores are difficult in the frigid weather, and there is barely enough food for three people.