My name is Mary. My hair is the color of milk. And this is my story. Mary is used to hard work. She knows no other way, as her life on her parents' farm is meager and full of deprivation. But then everything changes. When she turns fifteen, Mary moves into the household of the local village pastor to care for his wife and keep her company - a delicate, compassionate sick woman. With her, Mary experiences kindness and compassion for the first time. A new world opens up for her. In her simple, unvarnished language, she tells how her fate takes a dramatic turn when the pastor's wife dies and she suddenly finds herself alone with the master of the house.