Ellie Lucan's about as far as she can get from the screwed-up teenager she used to be. She's got a doctorate, her husband's a prominent academic, and their children are excelling at the local Montessori. When she loses her teaching job, however, she packs up her two sons to spend the summer with in her hometown. She finds her mother suffering from dementia and the house in squalor, and she is forced to confront small town prejudice towards her biracial sons. As Ellie is drawn back into the community, the strain on her marriage intensifies and she is forced to decide where her loyalties lie.