Summary

Chapter 1: The novel begins at the end of summer in 1984. Sam Hughes is taking a road trip in her VW bug with her uncle Emmett and Mamaw to Washington, D.C. Sam doesn’t know Mamaw very well and is worried about her judging her uncle Emmett, who is her mother’s brother, and has terrible adult acne and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

They stop at a gas station to get gas and food. When they get back into the car, Emmett tells Sam the car is having transmission problems. Sam dismisses this comment initially—because the boy she likes sold her the car—until she starts driving again and realizes it is true.

Chapter 2: Sam is driving and holding the gear in place. They have not made good time because of the car troubles and decide to stop at a Howard...