Pigs In Heaven opens in rural Kentucky, where Alice Greer has woken up in the middle of the night, feeling lonely. She walks outside in her nightgown, imagining herself the queen of her own humble garden. Her husband Harland and his fetish with their T.V. provides her little warmth. She thinks about her cousin, Sugar, …
Summary Chapter 1: Queen of Nothing The book opens in rural Kentucky, where a woman named Alice has just woken up in the middle of the night, thinking about her married life. At sixty-one, Alice has been married only two years, after having spent most of her adult life alone raising her daughter . Taylor …
Summary Chapter 4: Lucky Buster Lives Taylor and Turtle are driving Lucky Buster home to Sand Dune, Arizona. Although Lucky Buster is thirty-eight years old, he has the mental capabilities of a child. He lives with his mother, Angie Buster who is used to having Lucky run away. Although Lucky has a couple minor injuries, …
Summary Chapter 6: Thieves of Children In a Cherokee law office, the secretary Jinny has Oprah Winfrey on as background entertainment. Law intern Annawake Fourkiller becomes interested when she sees a small Indian child on the show. Annawake guesses she is a Cherokee. The child that Annawake and Jinny are watching is of course Turtle. …
Summary Chapter 9: The Pigs in Heaven Annawake comes back to Taylors house again, finding only Jax. They make small talk for a while before Annawake begins asking about Taylor and Turtle. They have fled from home; Jax refuses to tell Annawake where they have gone. Annawake goes onto explain that the tribe could legally …
Summary Chapter 11: Someone the Size of God In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Cash Stillwater takes a break from making beaded jewelry to look up and see a flock of pigeons in the sky. His jewelry-making vocation has caused him to start seeing everything in rows—the same ways he sees beads. This way of lining up …
Summary Chapter 13: The Church of Risk and Hope Taylor and Alice are leaving the Delta Queen Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, where the manager is giving them a hard time for checking out a few too minutes late. Alice plays along with his rules, telling him their room is cleaned out already. While she …
Summary Chapter 16: Marooned Alice is reading Taylor, Barbie, and Turtle stories from the tabloids to pass the time in the car. The four are leaving Las Vegas. One story is about three men who were “marooned” for thirty-six days when their boat overturned off the coast of Florida. Two of them ganged up on …
Summary Chapter 18: Natural Systems Cash Stillwater is driving through Oklahoma, headed toward the Cherokee Nation, listening to a song about putting a wedding ring on the right womens hand. He is heading back to the Nation—his home—for good. Meanwhile, Annawake wakes up one morning to find her baby niece curled under Annawakes quilt. Dellon …
Summary Chapter 21: Skid Row Taylor, Barbie, and Turtle are living in a coastal town in Washington State, which the reader will soon find out is Seattle. Taylor has a job with the Handi-Van company, a driving service in the city, and the three of them are living in a low-rent, dismal apartment. One of …