Readers fall in love with 15 year old Gladys in 1950 when she falls for a young man from the wrong side of the tracks, they follow her as she escapes one violent alcoholic marriage only to be murdered by her second husband. Then in 1971 they meet her 17 year old daughter, Ellen, on the long car ride to North Carolina as she tries to get her younger sister out from the clutches of the murderer's family. Find out how Ellen's marriage ends with 6 children, a wholesome upbringing and a shattered image as her children find alcohol no matter how she tries to shelter them from sin. Finally Marcia tells her story, she is Ellen's daughter and as an alcoholic herself, reveals the battles she faces after hitting and killing a pedestrian drunk driving in a blackout. She battles for her life against an enemy that wants her destroyed, alcoholism and addiction, but comes through to relay the message of shame, remorse, self-forgiveness and redemption that she finds in recovery.