Glennis just wants things to be the way they were. This means that Dad would be proven innocent and be out of prison; Mom would recover from her nervous breakdown. And the whole family -- Vinnie， Louise， Allie and Missy， and Glennis -- would be together again， living in a big house with a huge backyard and having family picnics complete with badminton nets and hoops for croquet. As the family has dissolved， Glennis has chosen to live with eccentric Aunt Wanda， who cooks only meals that come out of boxes， and wears rhinestone shirts and cowboy boots. When Wanda is at work， Glennis has no one but Skipper， Aunt Wanda s only son， to keep her company. But living with both of them has allowed Glennis to visit Dad every weekend at the correctional facility， where she is sure he ll ask her to help prove his innocence. Quite the opposite happens and Glennis is left wondering: If her life before is gone forever， then where does she stand now? Patricia Calvert writes with power and grace in a novel that probes the intricacies of family relationships and the many prisons that we construct for ourselves.