The Burgess family of Remington Park is not like other families. Lisette is a mother who loves too much; who is troubled but doesn't know why; who needs, but doesn't know what it is she needs. Ray is a father distanced from his children, deeply in love with his wife, absorbed in his career.

Dana, Gaby and Glenn are the products of this marriage. Three confused and uncertain people who keep trying, and failing, to make their way in the world.

It is Glenn, the youngest child, who is the ultimate focus of this book; a greatly talented, but bewildered young woman who relies on alcohol to help her find some sort of path through her life. And it is Cory, son of Gaby and grandson of Lisette, who -- against the odds, in spite of the circumstances -- knows exactly what he wants and has a powerful inner direction that will allow him to attain it. And it is Cory, too, who, remarkably, has a gift for what everyone else in the family wants but has such difficulty finding: love.

The Burgesses are three generations of complex, talented, and driven people, all of whom have been deeply, permanently influenced by the lost and loving Lisette.