She has no parents and all is shared equally in the family in a pile called the Jumble. Green thinks, however, she belongs to Freya Marsh. Freya, the de facto leader, is an affectionate tormentor who loves and tortures Green.
The family's actions are compared to a shoal of fish; none of them wants to be "edged" or ostracized. Green feels being "Edged" is worst than taking the Spike Walk--a horrid punishment that Freya invented.
Though the family think they have retreated into safety, real danger lurks through the halls of the ancestral home. Freya takes a baby away from her mother. The family seems unable to sense the growing moral uncertainty.
Instead of checking her authority, the family goes along with whatever Freya decides. Thus, when Freya arrives with an infant, the family never questions her origins. They simply welcomes the infant as a new family member. Curiously, Green names the infant Blue.
In order to feel safe from the outside world, the family performs numerous rituals. During the Winter Solstice they perform the Scattering--a line of salt is poured around the house to protect the house from outsiders. Green, in a fit of jealous, puts the infant outside the salt line, an action that will have serious repercussions .
Green, Blue, and Toby grow close in the years that follow. The grown believe that they have provided the children with the most magical childhood. They don't go to school and are not subjected to society's rules.
The ungrown are not given access to the most basic things e.g. mirrors and cannot leave the grounds or talk to strangers. Green in never given a chance to leave Foxlowe until a tragedy occurs.
Psychologically damaged, Green may never be able to integrate into society. One of the growns who became a Leaver is determined to give her a chance. Can he help her or will he only make things worst?
Green is a fascinating yet unreliable narrator in this novel that is both complex and frightening.
