The characters, a mother and her two daughters, each narrate in their own words and thoughts. Ruth Krazny is living a life she never wanted, suffering marriage and children as the only way to get her parents’ approval and support. Doing her best as a wife and mother, she plays her role by rote, her heart longing for the life she abandoned when her parents forbid her to go on the road as the singer in a band.
Her daughters, Allison and Cherie, not feeling the love or acceptance they so desperately want from their mother nor the attention they crave from their father, develop into two very different but equally distorted personalities. Allison becomes the "good girl," intelligent, studious and introverted, protecting herself by not making waves. Cherie develops into the "bad girl," aggressive and unruly, talking back, hitting back, running away from home, doing drugs, having indiscriminate sex and finally going crazy.
Amidst the domestic chaos is the father who works hard but doesn’t know what to do about all the pandemonium around him, so he withdraws, not realizing how strong an influence he is.
From the characters’ earliest lives into adulthood, death and beyond, the book explores the origins of mental illness, and the challenge of learning the lessons it teaches.
