Even after achieving her dream of selling her debut novel, Stephanie Danler feels adrift in New York. Struggling in the throes of a doomed relationship and haunted by her tumultuous childhood, something nameless compels her to return home to Southern California.
In a cottage in Laurel Canyon, as a new life begins to shape itself, she finally succumbs to memories of the past that have proved impossible to escape. A father who swung in and out of her life erratically, charming and mercurial and prone to addiction. A mother now disabled by years of alcoholism and an aneurysm, who cannot remember the abuse she inflicted. The looming, desolate mountains of Colorado, and a teenage freedom that nearly killed her. And above all, the painful love and forgiveness for those who failed her over and over again.
'It's such a thrill to watch a writer open up her greediest thoughts, to slice open little pockets of her skin and root around underneath her flesh.' New York Times Book Review
'A compulsive, neck-breaking masterpiece.' Lisa Taddeo
'This is a story of triumph: the triumph of grit, talent, grace, and beauty over the dark pull of inner demons.' Dani Shapiro



![Hennigan, Molly IRISH BIOGRAPHY Hennigan Molly: The Celestial Realm [2023] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/hennigan-molly-hennigan-molly-the-celestial-realm-2023-hardback-55527277003091_{width}x.jpg?v=1713720554)

![Fallon, Peter Bargain Literary Biography Richard Rankin Russell: Peter Fallon: Poet, Publisher, Editor and Translator: Poet, Publisher, Translator, Editor [2013] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/fallon-peter-richard-rankin-russell-peter-fallon-poet-publisher-editor-and-translator-poet-publisher-translator-editor-2013-hardback-1144406269_{width}x.jpg?v=1741123559)
![Shapland, Jenn Bargain Literary Biography Jenn Shapland: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers [2021] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/shapland-jenn-jenn-shapland-my-autobiography-of-carson-mccullers-2021-hardback-53777602412883_{width}x.jpg?v=1704301332)
![Sturrock, Donald Bargain Literary Biography Donald Sturrock: Love from Boy: Roald Dahl's Letters to his Mother [2017] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/sturrock-donald-donald-sturrock-love-from-boy-roald-dahl-s-letters-to-his-mother-2017-paperback-53112933548371_{width}x.jpg?v=1701107600)