"Consumed by her effort to understand the turbulent life and stubbornly self-willed death of her daughter, a gifted painter, Carrie Kinsella has been trapped in an emotional limbo that threatens to slide into madness.

Her husband, an over-bearing man whom Carrie addresses as "Daddy" and whom she lives in fear of disappointing, himself in failing health, is at once protective and exasperated by her obsessive search for answers, a quest that has come between them just as he feels he needs Carrie's support the most.".

"As Carrie's understanding of the landscape of her native city and the truth about her daughter grows, she gradually gains self-awareness as well, and what begins in depression and despair ends in reconciliation and rebirth."--BOOK JACKET.