Meg grew up in luxury, with servants to do all the housework. She knew when she married Jesse that she would have to learn to do the daily chores herself, and her love for him had made it all possible. Although she had been pampered, she'd had a hard childhood as her mother was distant and cold, and discipline was enforced with blows. Meg is devoted to her children and aspires to give them better mothering than she received, but when Jesse loses his job during the war and leaves her with two young children in a factory borough in western New Jersey while he seeks a job in Boston, the stress of handling everything alone and running out of money exacerbates Meg's old pattern of lashing out.
Annie loves her mama when she is gentle. Gentle Mama sings to Annie, cuddles her and teaches her, and reads her a story every night. But Annie's gentle mama is all tangled up with the mama who hits Annie and screams at her. Annie never knows which mama to expect.
Annie's closest companion is her cat, Misty. On Annie's fifth birthday, Misty gives birth to five kittens. Annie's happiness overflows. She adores and names each kitten.
The following morning, when Annie returns home from playing with her brother, she inadvertently witnesses her mother in an act of violence that so terrifies her that she takes Misty and her newborn babies and flees to a cave she has found in the woods. She thought the cave would be a safe place, but finds it is not safe. She longs to go home, but cannot overcome her fear of her mama. Nowhere is safe. She imagines that magic elves will come and care for her, but no elves come. All night, she stays in the woods, a night of terror and wonder for Annie, and a night of terror and remorse for Meg.
Leaf Shadows and Sunshine is a story of love, betrayal, shame, and courage, and of a night that becomes an initiation for both mother and daughter.
