The Turning

Raelene lives in a van (which is similar to an RV) with her abusive husband Max and their two daughters. In the laundry room, she meets Sherry, who is renting a van with her husband Dan while their home is repainted. The two become fast friends, and spend a month hanging out until the repainting is finished. When she helps Sherry and Dan move back into their home, her absence angers Max, who beats her.

Raelene begins leaving her darts night early to visit with Sherry and Dan. She knows there’s something different about them—they are happy, and they seem to be living well. She comes to find out that they are Christians and Dan is a recovering alcoholic. She has a hard time processing this, and starts to think that maybe she deserves her unhappiness. When she confronts them about their religion, they take it calmly, and she starts to think about her own beliefs, because “if [Sherry and Dan] had been plain, homely people you’d have to dismiss everything they believed as weakness, as consolation, but they were beautiful” (149).

After Max’s brother quits his professional football team, Max becomes more abusive. When Sherry and Raelene take a trip to Perth, Sherry tells Raelene she should leave Max, and they fight about it, with Raelene confronting Sherry’s faithfulness to Dan when he was drinking.