“Elva had said nothing to anyone. She prayed earnestly that she was “all right”, explaining over and over again to God what the doctor had said, and how she couldn’t properly look after the children she already had. Elva liked to pray in front of a statue similar to the one in her mother’s living-room. She was not praying to the statue, but it was a kind of magical doll that kept her thoughts focussed on the Being to whom she prayed.”