by Mona Simpson
First published 2000
Ann August packs up her twelve-year-old daughter Adele and abandons their stable life in Bay City, Wisconsin. Ann dreams of Hollywood glamour and believes California will transform them both into something magnificent. Adele watches her mother chase fantasies while longing for the ordinary life they left behind. Ann takes acting classes and waitressing jobs, moving them from apartment to apartment across Los Angeles. She promises Adele that fame and fortune wait just around the corner. Adele starts high school feeling displaced and resentful. She excels academically while Ann struggles with money and men. The gap between Ann's delusions and their harsh reality widens. Adele applies to colleges back East, determined to escape her mother's chaotic orbit. Ann cannot understand why her daughter rejects the adventure she has provided. Their relationship fractures as Adele chooses stability over Ann's restless dreams. This mother-daughter story examines the price of unfulfilled ambition and the weight children carry when parents refuse to grow up.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Bay City, Wisconsin, California, Los Angeles
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
660 pages · Hardcover · Thomas t Beeler