this was a re-read for me when I couldn't get to sleep the other night. I forgot how chilling and haunting this book was, and the hopelessness the main character, Mary, felt. i can't remember my first reading, but with this second reading, all I could think was, "how could things get like this?" simply put: after so long, the villagers lost touch with where they came from because of the totalitarian control The Sisters had over everyone. they were the only ones who were allowed to know what happened, and even then only a few select were allowed to know the whole truth. I need to go and read the next two books in the trilogy, but I'm hoping they're just as riveting and page turning as the first.