The Bean Trees

Content Warning: This section references child abuse and the sexual abuse of an infant and includes discussions of death by suicide.

Taylor, Lou Ann, Mattie, and a pair of Guatemalan immigrants named Estevan and Esperanza, who have been staying with Mattie, go hiking in the hills around Tucson. Estevan, a former English teacher, is well-spoken and entertains them with amusing conversation about the mnemonic devices that students use to remember information in school. Taylor notices that Esperanza doesn’t speak much and tries to make herself small and unnoticeable, much like Turtle. They go swimming together in a mountain creek, and Taylor sees Turtle having a dream, during which her eyes appear much more active than they do when she’s awake. On the drive home, they stop for a quail crossing the road, and Turtle makes her first sound: a laugh at the sudden stop.

Later, while the adults are gardening at Mattie’s house, Turtle says her first word: “bean.” She soon adds other vocabulary words, which all are names of vegetables. At home, Taylor and Lou Ann prepare for a party they’re hosting to celebrate Mattie doing a television interview about her work with refugees and immigrants.