Out of the Woods

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing, sexual content, illness, and death. 

The work opens in the past, as 14-year-old Sarah Green watches her best friend, Winnifred “Win” McNulty, race down the hallway of their high school in Canada. A breathless Win explains that there is a new boy reading a book. The boy is Sarah’s future husband, Caleb Linwood.

In the present, Sarah is now an adult and finds herself praying desperately, as her mother taught her that reaching out to God was only for true emergencies. Her fundraiser for ALS research, in honor of her mother, is far below her financial goal. Win tries to comfort her and suggests that Caleb could give the closing speech. 

Sarah refuses and castigates herself: “[W]hat a waste of time, what a waste of money. What a waste” (9). She is especially distressed because while her mother was a single parent who raised her alone, she has accomplished much less in her life despite having more resources. Sarah envies Win because of her recent happy marriage to Bo Durand and their plans to open an inclusive outdoor recreation camp for children with disabilities. 

As she and Win approach the ballroom, Sarah sees a photo of her mother from her wedding and remembers the final stages of her illness.