The Lambs, led by their tough, resilient mother, Oriel, start up a small grocery store in their house. The store controls the troubled relationship amongst the two families. The Lambs pay the rent to the Pickles from the profit of their store, which is the only reason the Pickles have enough money to survive. The most important characters are Rose Pickles and two Lamb brothers (Fish and Quick) out of all the children in the novel. Rose is the smart one, intelligent and attentive to her parents' weaknesses. Fish and Quick have one younger brother and three sisters. Fish is funny, smart, and adored by everyone, then he almost drowned in a fishing accident, and returns to the mindset of a young boy. Quick puts himself liable for it and fights
