When Mattie Gifford's beloved son, Sonny, takes two women and a poodle hostage inside his ex-wife's trailer, the media descend like flies, his three sisters set up camp in Mattie's house, and Mattie begins to reflect on her life with bitingly hysterical and poignant insight.

Cathie Pelletier was born and raised on the banks of the St. John River, at the end of the road in Northern Maine. She is the author of 11 other novels, including The Funeral Makers (NYTBR Notable Book), The Weight of Winter (winner of the New England Book Award) and Running the Bulls (winner of the Paterson Prize for Fiction). As K. C. McKinnon, she has written two novels, both of which became television films. After years of living in Nashville, Tennessee Toronto, Canada and Eastman, Quebec, she has returned to Allagash, Maine and the family homestead where she was born. She is at work on a new novel.