Ginny and Tom have a practical marriage. Tom wants land to call his own, and Ginny knows she can't manage her ageing father's farm by herself. They enjoy a mutual attraction that, at times allows them to share a deeply gratifying love, but their obsessions always, inevitably, end up in the way.
Tom's obsession is easy to understand. He's a workaholic who hoards time and money. Ginny's is less predictable. She loses control of her dignity, she speaks in tongues, and she is "saved", - which to Ginny is a blessing, and to Tom a disgrace. It's not until Tom lies at the mercy of a disease for which the mountain doctor has no cure that Ginny realises her truest pleasure.
