Seventeen-year-old Ada marries her perfect match in the town of Fairchild. Her husband is handsome, from a good family, and young like her. In the first months of her marriage, Ada is happy. She loves being with her husband, and continues to spend time with her friends and help her mother with midwifery.

After six months, Ada’s mother-in-law begins to drop hints about her not being pregnant. Raised by a midwife, Ada isn’t too concerned—she knows it can take some time to get pregnant. But after a year and still no pregnancy, Ada’s mother tells her that her husband likely has fertility issues, and that to get pregnant she needs to have sex with another man. In Ada’s small 19th century town, lack of pregnancy in a married couple means that the woman is cursed, maybe even a witch. Ada has already seen a young woman from town hanged for witchcraft—she was accused because she couldn’t get pregnant, and neither could the women around her. Bearing children is especially crucial for Ada since all the young women in Fairchild are under pressure to reproduce to fill the void the Great Flu caused.

Ada’s mother sets her up with Sam, an older man proven to have no fertility issues.