Julia is raised by her single mother, Anita. Julia did have her father in her life when she was younger, but she does not learn until well into adulthood that her father actually had a wife and two daughters elsewhere her whole life. Anita drinks too frequently and intensely and is often hurtful to her daughter. One day when Julia makes her upset in the car, Anita makes the young girl get out of the car while she drives off. Anita does come back after driving around the block, but the experience is terrifying for Julia. She learns as a child that she can never act out of line.

Anita has a boyfriend named Jonathan when Julia is 17 years old. Jonathan makes Anita happy. Shortly before Julia’s high school graduation, her mother sends her to get something out of her purse where Julia finds a newspaper clipping from six years ago detailing Julia’s father’s death. Julia did not know her father was dead; she thought he did not want to see her. It is from this newspaper clipping that Julia learns that her father was married with two kids. When she goes outside to get some air, Jonathan goes out to talk to her. He is the one she later calls when she gets into Northwestern University, and it makes her happy that he tells her that he is proud of her. Eventually they begin a sexual relationship behind Anita’s back while Julia is still a minor. One day Jonathan lets it slip to Anita that he saw Julia, and from this, Anita learns of the affair. She kicks Jonathan out of her life. Anita knows that he acted in a predatory manner, but she is also quite angry with Julia. Julia decides to go away to Kansas to college to get away from Chicago. She does not return home.

Julia is back in Chicago after college when she meets Mark one day. She is short on change for the parking meter, and he convinces her to use some of his laundry money. He then follows her into the restaurant she was going to, and the two begin a relationship. Mark enters more readily into the relationship as Julia’s childhood provides obstacles to her fully committing to him. He seems normal to her, and she has never felt normal. One day well into their relationship, Mark brings Julia to meet his longtime friends, Francine and Brady. Francine is pregnant with twins, and she comes from wealth. Brady makes good money. Julia feels out of place with Francine who seems to want everything Julia believes she ought to want. Julia does not feel like she knows how to coo over a baby nursery and partake in other forms of female bonding. She is put off by Brady. On the way home, Mark and Julia get into an argument because Julia does not like his friends. She is upset to learn that Brady has offered Mark a job that he plans on taking. She believes he should work in a field he is passionate about. The two make amends and wed.

Julia eventually becomes pregnant with Ben. When she finds out she is pregnant, she calls her mother first, but her mother is less than enthusiastic. Mark finds her on their kitchen floor, and she tells him the news. She enjoys being pregnant. After Ben is born, however, Julia struggles. She enrolls Ben in a daycare called Serenity Smiles, but she does not feel like she fits in with the other mothers there. One day when Ben does not want to go in, she decides to keep him with her. She runs into an older wealthy woman at the grocery store named Helen Russo. Helen can see that Julia is struggling and is kind to her. They develop a friendship.

Helen is out of town with her husband when Julia goes over to pick up a birthday dessert that Helen made for Ben. While there, Julia runs into Helen’s adult son, Nathaniel. The two begin a sexual relationship. One day when Julia is hosting a playdate, Nathaniel shows up at her house, not having known Julia is married. Francine sees the two outside together, as does Ben. Francine tells Julia that she will not tell Mark what she saw.

Julia is again struggling one day when she sees Nathaniel. He is on his way to Wisconsin, and she gets in the car and joins him. She panics on the way and asks to be left off. She calls Mark and asks him to pick up Ben and to come pick her up. He obliges. Julia admits to having had an affair and assures Mark that it is over. He does not want to know any details, but she tells him she will never see Nathaniel or Helen again.

Julia and Mark have another baby, Alma. Julia has a much easier time after Alma is born. When the novel starts, Alma is getting ready to go to college. She has not gotten into any of her first choice schools, so she plans to go to Herzog, the one she did get into. She and Julia have a tumultuous relationship of sorts, but it is typical of many relationships between mothers and teenage daughters, and in many ways they are quite close. Julia knows she could never allow her children to push her away the way Anita allowed Julia to leave and not return.

Ben comes to the family one day and tells them that he is having a baby with a woman named Sunny and that they are going to get married. Julia does not take it well, worrying that they do not know all they are getting themselves into. Eventually she softens, however. Julia is surprised by how easily Alma can engage in female small talk about babies the way that she never could.

Ben wants his grandmother at the wedding. He had taken her phone number once and spoke with her a couple of times about a school project. Julia tells him that she does not think it is a good idea because she knows how her mother is, and she does not want Ben to get hurt. He gets angry, and eventually she invites Anita. She does not tell Ben about this when Anita tells her that she cannot come because she has to work. Julia knows this is not true because the wedding is on a holiday.

Eventually Anita calls and comes to the wedding, staying with Julia and Mark. Julia and her mother get into an argument when they have dinner with Sunny’s family. Anita criticizes Julia for drinking too much. Eventually they make amends, and Julia learns that her mother is married and is sober. She also learns that Anita never contacted her after she left the last time suddenly because Mark told her not to. As the novel ends, Mark and Julia are preparing for life without any children at home, and Julia and Anita begin a tentative relationship.