What is the main conflict in Fall on Your Knees: A Novel by Ann-Marie MacDonald?

Fall on Your Knees is the story of the Piper family. Based in a small Canadian town in the late 1800s through the mid-twentieth century, the novel tells the story of the relationships between the father James, his wife Materia, and their three daughters, Kathleen, Mercedes, and Frances. James' obsession with his eldest child Kathleen affects the entire family for many years to come.