The protagonist, Ana, is a young woman in her early thirties. She was born and raised mostly in New Jersey, but has since moved out West to Portland. In a lot of ways, she left her deep roots to escape her hardscrabble childhood. When she finds out her mother has cancer, she commits to spending a lot of time back east, helping not only with the care and treatments that come with a terminal illness, but in the managing and wrangling of the family dynamics. She is insightful and unafraid to speak the truth, something that her family members oftentimes have a hard time with. So much about her past, her relationship with her mother, who her mother really is, who her family really is, comes to light for her in this challenging landscape. But when Ana finds out she is pregnant during this already intense time, the darkness that has always loomed over her, the grief of having to face neglect and borderline poverty as a child and adolescent, is now glowing with the hope of a new beginning even though she knows it is also the end of her mother's life.