But the curse follows her. Her husband is kind, but he is a stranger. Kavu is haunted by the ghosts of her tharavadu —the smell of damp earth, the pomegranate flowers, and the silent grief of her mother. She returns to Kalliyode often, only to find it more ruined each time. The Karanavar , once a lion, becomes a drunkard. He confesses to Kavu on his deathbed: "I didn't want to send you away. But a girl must leave. A tree must fall so a flower can bloom elsewhere."

However, I can prepare a of the novel for you, as if you were reading a critical introduction.

Kavu receives a letter. The man from her mother’s mural—the secret lover—has died. He was a poet who had left for Tamil Nadu years ago. His son sends Kavu her mother’s old letters, never posted. Reading them, Kavu finally understands: her mother’s sadness was not weakness, but a silent rebellion against a system that valued property over people.

Kavu is now the "woman of the house" at fifteen. The Karanavar arranges her marriage to a distant relative, , a progressive man who works in a town. Unlike her mother, Kavu is sent away to her husband’s home.