After moving to Virginia, Hallie is eager to start a new life. Her secret dream to be part of the popular crowd are dashed when kids make fun of her. When tragedy strikes, Hallie realizes what is truly important to her.
As she grows up in Midville, South Carolina, in the 1960s, Sissy's life is especially shaped by her relationships with her grandparents, her mother, her bossy cousin, and the black woman who cooks for her family.
Marcelina's father comes home from a trip to Manila with beautiful hand-made sleeping mats for each member of his large family, including the three daughters who died when they were very young.
Pearl Andreas dreams of going to college and becoming a doctor, but with mounting family problems and discovering shocking truths of her heritage, her dreams seem to be slipping away from her.
Examines the notion that American families in the 1950s exemplify the ideal kind of American family, arguing that there has never been a "golden age" of the family in America or elsewhere. Explore the definition of a family and the roles of each kind of member of a family.
After Joy, her strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, flees to Shanghai in search of her birth father and in the process throws herself into the New Society of Red China, Pearl follows her in hopes of reconciliation. As their journeys converge, one of China's most tragic episodes of history threatens their safety and lives.
Follows the lives and experiences of one family from the time of the Great Depression to the twenty-first century, centering around Myra Lamb, a young girl who has the extraordinary talent of connecting with animals and people around her.
