Pigs In Heaven Analysis

Pigs in Heaven starts on a farm somewhere in rural Kentucky where a woman named Alice Greer who is feeling lonely after her cousin Sugar moved away. Alice’s husband gives her little warmth and has a obsession with TV. The story then shifts over to Alice’s daughter Taylor and her adopted daughter Turtle. While they are driving to tour the Grand Canyon they stoop to take a picture at the Hoover Dam. Just when they are leaving Turtle sees a man (Lucky Buster) falls down into the Hoover Dam drainage. When Turtle spots this she tells Taylor who then finds help to get the man out. The two of them are put into the spotlight with an appearance on a talk show for rescuing the man. After the interview on the show Taylor and Turtle head on back to Tucson Arizona to live with Taylor's boyfriend Jax. With Turtle and Taylor out in the open on that talk
show they didn't know Turtle came into notice by Annawake Fourkiller, an attorney for the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation tribe. Annawake, who had a twin brother that got adopted out of the Cherokee Nation and years later is in a federal prison. Annawake says that she feels that Indian children should grow around their culture or they may end up in bad situations in the white people world. The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 rules that a child from an indian tribe can only be adopted out if their tribe says they can. Taylor is angered by this when Annawake tells her about the act because Taylor had never even asked for a child to take care of in the first place.
When she was given Turtle to her by one of the tribe members at a bar the baby was abused badly and was not cared for so Taylor nursed the baby back to health. With Turtle growing up with Taylor her entire life she doesn’t want to leave her and neither does Taylor. So the next time Annawake visits their home she finds they had already left. Taylor and Turtle then go and stay at Lucky Buster’s mother hotel until Annawake leaves. After they hear that he's still looking for Turtle they flee to Las Vegas to go into hiding. Taylor spends the rest of their money trying to make profit for them and just when their hope is lost Taylor’s mother Alice had come down to offer them support and to run away from the Cherokee Nation and her uncaring husband. When they are leaving they meet a waitress who is a little nutty and they feel bad for her so they give her a ride out of Las Vegas. Later on she steals Taylor’s remaining money one day on their way back. After that Taylor decides to return
home. In a town in Wyoming Cash Stillwater a man who is still trying to get over his life tragedies. Some years ago he lost his wife and daughter in the same year. He gets word from a woman named Annawake that they have found his granddaughter. When Alice returns to the Cherokee Nation to help solve the problem, Alice meets Cash who invites her to a stomp dance where she finally feels to be a part of a community of her own. When Alice and Cash are talking they realize that they are both trying to protect Turtle. When Turtle arrives and meets Cash she remembers him. So both sides come to an agreement that none of them would want to lose Turtle and they come up with a plan, Turtle can visit the Cherokee Nation for three months out of the year and live the other months with Taylor. At the end of the book Cash marries Alice and Turtle strengthens her bond with the Cherokee Nation and everyone lives happily.