Barbara Kingsolver does it again. Damon Copperhead grows up in Lee County, Virginia. His father died before he was born - his mother struggled with addictions. Demon was placed in foster homes while his mother went to recovery programs. She marries when he is 9 or 10, to a man who abuses Demon - all in the name of discipline. Mom dies, Demon is placed back in foster homes. 

I didn't get the connection as to why Demon tells us the story of the girl who marries the tow truck driver who ends up being an abusive husband - leaving her tied up on the porch with the baby inside the house - until she carves his face with a box cutter