Grace struggles to overcome her guilt at her little sister Emily falling to her death while she was supposedly under Grace's supervision, with this having occurred in a climate defined by her father's advocacy of a simpler life through his writing, but with his absence often leaving the family in circumstances closer to poverty than freedom. William Wall was the 2016 winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize.

William Wall is the author of four novels, three volumes of short stories and four collections of poetry. His work has won many awards, including the Virginia Faulkner Award and the Raymond Carver Award. In 2016 he won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize.