When Miranda McGovern, an anxious, repressed school clerk, takes custody of her sister's daughter Susan, she works tirelessly to ensure that her gifted niece excels academically, determined the girl achieve the top honors she herself was once denied.

A devout Catholic and brittle perfectionist, Miranda clings to a rigid set of rules to ensure Susan’s success and avoid the thread of family dysfunction that ran through her own childhood. Under her vigilant care and careful tutelage, the high school senior is on track to graduate with an Ivy League acceptance.

But when Susan's freespirited mother, Ava, a backup singer touring Europe with a series of rock bands, suddenly returns to the family home after a long absence, their world is upended. Ava's reappearance threatens to derail Susan's success and destroy everything Miranda has built in this novel that examines the fragile bonds of family, duty and the burdens of a shared past.

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