Summary

The novel opens in 2010. Mae recalls a book that her mother, an alcoholic, “liked to read to [her] as a child” (1). Although her mother would sometimes misidentify the farm animals in the children’s book, Mae enjoyed her mother’s “undivided attention” (2). During the 1990s, when Mae and her mother were not speaking, Mae became briefly obsessed with the farm book. She sent numerous, overly personal emails to the publishing company, hoping for information about the book. She recalled her mother’s work in diner in New York, where she often flirted with customers. Mae eventually received a copy of the book and gave it to her mother, who kept it on her bedside table.

Prior to her death, Mae’s mother lived in a nearby nursing home. Her mother adopted a cliquish, bossy attitude with the other residents there. She watched videotapes...