The Grace Year: Summer and The Return

by Kim Liggett
Tierney James and the other sixteen-year-old girls who live in Garner County must venture into the dangerous woods for their "grace year" before they are allowed to return to society.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer and The Return
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. throes
    violent pangs of suffering
    I remember Father treating trappers from the north, feeding them thimblefuls of whisky on the hour. It wasn’t enough to satisfy them, but just enough to keep them from going into the throes of withdrawal. And that’s exactly what this is—a withdrawal.
  2. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    Tonight, as the sun gives way to the moon, a million stars making me feel smaller than a speck of dust, I stand on the perimeter, listening to the incessant scratching noise.
  3. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
    “But every full moon he rose from the dead to take his revenge. It took him eight years to hunt down every single one of them and their kin. Only then could he earn the pyre that would carry his soul to the heavens.”
  4. changeling
    a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy
    I thought maybe she’d shed her skin out there, like the changelings from the old fairy tales. I think that’s what always scared me the most about the grace year, that I would somehow lose myself, come back an entirely different person.
  5. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    “My cloak,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around my threadbare chemise, trying to cover myself the best I can.
  6. girth
    the distance around something, especially a person's body
    Ducking around the girth of the tree, I press my spine against the bark, waiting...hoping they take the bait.
  7. relentless
    never-ceasing
    I’m clinging to the ropes, praying I’m hidden enough in the darkness to avoid being seen. But the moon is so bright. Fertile. Relentless.
  8. painstaking
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    There, for everyone to see, the girl’s bones have been laid out in painstaking detail, spread-eagle with two black calla lilies placed in her eye sockets—the flower of ill will.
  9. mandible
    the jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth
    As I pluck the bad omens from her eyes, I notice the dark red stain smeared across the mandible, all the way around, where her lips would’ve been.
  10. procure
    get by special effort
    There’s only one person who’s not afraid of the curse...
    who likes to play with bones...
    who knows the language of flowers and where to procure them.
  11. swathe
    wrap in or as if in strips of cloth
    I look down to find he’s swathed in charcoal fabric.
  12. ascension
    a movement upward
    Hawthorn is seldom used in the county anymore, but in the old language, it signified ascension. A higher purpose.
  13. veneer
    coating consisting of a thin layer of wood
    It takes everything I have not to lose it right then and there, but I have to stay strong. One crack in the veneer, one chink in my armor could dismantle me completely, sending me crashing to the floor.
  14. sacrilege
    blasphemous behavior
    Back home, vandalizing the punishment tree would be sacrilege, instant death, but who’s going to tell, who’s going to see?
  15. ramification
    a consequence, especially one that causes complications
    Braids, toes, fingers, and teeth rattle in the trembling branches, and when the tree finally drops, I feel the weight of it in every inch of my body. Even though I won’t be here to see the ramifications of this, it’s enough to witness its demise.
  16. sorrel
    any plant or flower of the genus Oxalis
    After burning the hacked-up tree and everything it stood for, we bury the ashes and decorate the stump with weeds—clover, wood sorrel, and buttercups. They’re low flowers, seldom used anymore in the county, but they once symbolized fragility, peace, and solitude.
  17. prim
    affectedly dainty or refined
    As the new grace year girls funnel out in a prim line, it takes me by surprise. They look so young, so pretty, like dolls being dressed up for a dance—not being sent for slaughter.
  18. reverie
    absentminded dreaming while awake
    She looks over at me, a flash of wild excitement in her eyes, but her secret reverie dies as she takes in Michael standing in front of me.
  19. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    He’s standing before me, a gardenia in his lapel. The flower he chose for me—the flower of purity.
  20. relinquish
    part with a possession or right
    “As you know, today is the day I relinquish my role as head of the council to you, but given the grave nature of the offense, I will take on this burden for you.”
  21. rhetoric
    loud and confused and empty talk
    The men are too caught up in their rhetoric, screaming red-faced into the void, but the women stand in soft silence, as if they’ve been waiting for this their whole lives.
  22. scrutinize
    look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail
    The men press forward, scrutinizing every inch of me.
  23. leach
    use a liquid to dissolve out or remove a substance
    The color leaches from Mr. Welk’s face.
  24. errant
    moving in an uncontrolled, irregular, or unpredictable way
    As the girl walks to the center of the square, nearly tripping on her errant shoelace, she pulls her plait over her shoulder, nervously fidgeting with the white ribbon.
  25. complicity
    guilt as a confederate in a crime or offense
    The things we do to girls. Whether we put them on pedestals only to tear them down, or use them for parts and holes, we’re all complicit in this.
  26. avail
    a means of serving
    Reaching the tree where she veered off, I search for her, to no avail.
  27. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    To the north, I hear voices—women’s voices, boisterous, untethered—and I realize I must be near the border of the outskirts.
  28. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    Using every ounce of restraint that I have in me, I shorten my gait, slow my pace, until it looks as if I’m out for nothing more than a bit of fresh air.
  29. lascivious
    driven by lust
    With deliberate intent, I drop the petal into the bath, watching it swirl around my ankles lasciviously.
  30. transgression
    the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle
    I look up at her, waiting for her to snatch it out of the water, run and tell the head of the house of my transgression, but instead, I see the faintest rise in the corner of her mouth.
  31. settee
    a small sofa
    Tonight, as the clock strikes twelve, I descend the stairs, my silk robes swishing against the thick rugs, and curl up on the settee and wait.
  32. amenable
    open to being acted upon in a certain way
    It’s a delicate negotiation, trying to suss out who is amenable to change and who would sooner cut my tongue out if given the chance.
  33. duality
    a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
    As the full moon of my ninth month draws near, I feel it in my body, the duality of wanting to hang on but needing to let go.
  34. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    The pain is cutting at first, but it quickly shifts to something dull and deep. A guttural moan escapes my lips as I bear down.
  35. blasphemy
    profane language
    “If you feel the need to pray, then pray for a girl.”
    “That’s blasphemy,” Ivy whispers, looking back at the door to make sure the men didn’t hear.
Created on Wed May 06 11:13:08 EDT 2020 (updated Fri May 08 09:24:26 EDT 2020)

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