In the lush North Carolina foothills, the Moon women have put down roots: matriarch Marvelle Moon, whos starting to lose her grip on the world after more than eighty years of life; her middle-aged daughters, Ruth Ann and Cassandra; and Ruth Anns nineteen-year-old daughter, Ashley, fresh out of rehab, unmarried, and three months pregnant.Despite Ruth Anns best efforts to live a life thats all her own, her family is coming together around her. Marvelle and Ashley need a place to live and Ruth Ann is unable to turn either of them away; and her womanizing ex-husband has been coming around again, dredging up the past. Now a flurry of outbursts, emotions, and outrages is shattering Ruth Anns separate peace. And as this flawed family comes together, so, too, do the stories of the people Ruth Ann thought she knew best.For here is Ashley, who has spent nineteen years running furiously away from home, now finding herself on a strange journey with her unraveling grandmother. And here is Cassandra, protected by layers of obesity and loneliness, wondering how to put magic back in her life. And Marvelle, slowly losing touch with reality, privately contemplating the story of her life and the secret that would change everything for everyone if they only knew...