First published 1980
Laura Quinn has built what looks like a perfect life. She writes successful articles, raises her children, and maintains her household with practiced efficiency. Then her teenage nephew Jimmy Cogan arrives for an extended visit. Jimmy asks questions Laura hasn't considered in years. He challenges assumptions she thought were settled. Their conversations pull at threads she didn't realize were loose. As Jimmy stays longer, Laura finds herself examining decisions she made years ago. She questions the compromises that seemed reasonable at the time. The comfortable boundaries of her world begin to shift. Laura must decide whether the life she constructed still fits the person she has become. The presence of one questioning teenager forces her to confront the gap between who she is and who she thought she would be.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-dynamics, fish-out-of-water
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
256 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books