Plot
Jeanette is an only child, adopted as a baby. Her mother, who wanted to acquire a child in a sexless manner whom she could train to be a servant to God, is a devout evangelist member of the Elim Pentecostal Church. She was converted after meeting the charismatic Pastor Spratt, a missionary whom she idolises and whose crusades she frequently discusses. Her father is largely absent from the novel. Jeanette's childhood is full of rigorous prayer and preparation for her future as a missionary, which includes listening to the World Service Missionary Report with her mother every Sunday on the radiogram and recording the number of converts. Up until the age of seven she is homeschooled by her mother, mostly by learning to read the Bible.
As a child Jeanette lost her hearing for three months, but her condition was misdiagnosed as her mother and the congregation believed her to be in a state of rapture. After another church member, Miss Jewsbury, discovers her ailment, Jeanette is treated at the hospital. Following her operation, she spends a lot of time with Elsie, another church member, who teaches her about poetry and Wagner.
When Jeanette begins attending school after her mother is ordered to send her, she is something of an outcast to the other children. The teachers disapprove of her art projects which quote biblical scenes, especially a sampler of Jeremiah 8:20 she makes for Elsie, which they find unnecessarily morbid and disturbing. One teacher, Mrs Vole, informs Jeanette that she is obsessed by God and that she has been scaring the other students with her stories of Hell. Mrs. Vole sends a letter about this issue to Jeanette's mother, who reacts with elation rather than anger. Eventually, Jeanette stops making projects that reference biblical themes, but finds that she still remains an outcast.
As she ages, Jeanette realises that she sometimes disagrees with the teachings of her congregation, particularly one sermon about the nature of perfection. She also starts thinking about romance, listening intently to other women's complains and opinions about their husbands and forming a theory that all men are 'beasts'.
One day Jeanette and her mother go downtown and see a girl named Melanie working at a fish stall. They soon become friends, and Jeanette invites Melanie to her church, where Melanie agrees to be saved by Jesus Christ. After this, Jeanette frequently visits Melanie's house for Bible study. As the two spend more time together, they start having a love affair. Jeanette eventually tells her mother about how much she loves Melanie out of a desire to communicate her newfound happiness, and the following Sunday at church the pastor publicly confronts them about their fallen state. Melanie repents immediately, but Jeanette argues and flees. She takes refuge at the house of Miss Jewsbury, who is herself a lesbian, and they sleep together.
The following day the elders of the church attempt to exorcise the demons from Jeanette. When she still will not repent, her mother locks her in the parlour for thirty- six hours with no food. During this time, she hallucinates an orange demon, representative of her homosexuality, and following a conversation with it decides to keep it instead of driving it out, despite the difficulties it assures her she will face. After this, she pretends to repent, but maintains her impression that she has not done anything wrong by loving both Melanie and God.
Melanie disappears and Jeanette becomes deeply involved in the church again. Her role has grown and she now preaches her own sermons and teaches Sunday school. Soon Jeanette begins a new affair with Katy, a recent convert. When they are caught one weekend, Jeanette takes all the blame, saying that she had been with Melanie. The church decides that Jeanette has been given too much responsibility, and now almost thinks that she is a man. They insist that she give up teaching and preaching. Instead of obeying them, Jeanette leaves the church, and is subsequently forced to leave home by her mother.
At this moment in the narrative, the story splits off into a parallel tale of Winnet Stonejar, a parable symbolising the story of Jeanette's life. Winnet is a young girl who, while wandering through the forest, encounters a sorcerer who offers to adopt her in exchange for tremendous powers. After years in the sorcerer’s care, Winnet betrays him by falling in love, and the sorcerer tells Winnet she must either leave, or stay but be banished to a lifetime of caring for the village goats. A raven appears to Winnet and tells her that her life will be full of grief if she stays. While Winnet wonders what to do, the sorcerer - disguised as a mouse - sneaks into Winnet’s room and ties a thread around her coat button, which he can use at any time to tug her back to him.
With no home, friends, or money, Jeanette takes up various jobs, such as working in a funeral parlour and as an ice cream truck driver. On occasion, she runs into her mother or members of her congregation, who treat Jeanette coldly and say she is possessed by demons. One day she is driving her ice-cream truck through the town when she notices a crowd around Elsie's house. Upon enquiring, she is coldly informed that Elsie has died, and is taken aside by the pastor, who tells her that Melanie confessed she never loved Jeanette.
Eventually, she moves to the city to work in a mental hospital. After an unspecified time, Jeanette returns home one winter to see her mother, whose behaviour indicates that she has become more tolerant of Jeanette's lifestyle, though they do not discuss it. Her mother is still a devout believer, listening to the missionary reports on the radio system with her usual fervour, but her Society for the Lost has been shaken by corruption.
