In her mother’s eyes, Ann Marie—her deformed, dimwitted eldest daughter—will flounder in life, unlike her adept youngest child. Ann’s struggle to win her mother’s meager affections plays out into adulthood until she stumbles upon a family secret that carries life-changing possibilities. At the suggestion of her mother’s former caregiver—a free-spirited young woman—Ann undertakes a major project that allows her to reframe her acidic relationship with her mother and build the foundation for lasting change.