Nancy Jensen's debut novel takes the reader on a journey of two sisters lives over the course of eighty years.  Mabel and Bertie are living with their stepfather after their mother has died and it is a sad and tragic life filled with horrible secrets.  On the night of Bertie's graduation a misunderstanding leads to Mabel and Bertie seperating ways and each begins a new life far away from each other.   The reader then learns what happens to these sisters and their subsequent families over the course of decades.  Chapters are told from various women in the generations that follow.  There are secrets, lies and heartbreak that ties each generation together.  There is a family tree in the front of the book which was very helpful to keep track of the characters.