Because of him, their neighbors shun their families: the beautiful mother is suspected of witchcraft, and other children are forbidden to be friends with her sisters. But the girls still know how to enjoy life—they play, make plans, watch TV, and keep an eye on the new maid, Petrona, trying to understand what she’s hiding. Why does Petrona hardly ever talk? Why is there no money in her home even for a TV? Why does she hang around with young men whom adults watch with disapproval? And why did she take the sisters’ photographs out of an album?