PLOT

The novel follows Jeanette from the time when she is seven until she is about twenty. She is raised in a Pentecostal home to be a missionary or a pastor. This plan goes well until she meets Melanie, and they become very close. The relationship advances spiritually and physically as well, but they do not think what they are experiencing is an "Unnatural Passion". Finally, they are exposed before the entire congregation as lesbians. Melanie confesses and repents outwardly, but Jeanette is a little more reluctant. Once Melanie leaves, things return to normal, and Jeanette continues her studies and her preaching. During a series of tent meetings in a neighboring town, she meets a young woman named Katy. Katy joins the church, and they become lovers. For years they are able to keep their relationship quiet, but eventually the truth is discovered. Jeanette takes the blame to protect Katy and is ostracized by her mother and her church. This leads to her leaving home and eventually moving to London. The novel ends with her coming back to visit her mother a number of years later. The meeting is civil, but that is because they do not talk about sex.

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