"Graduating magna cum laude from MIT is the happiest day of Billie Banks's life, although her family is not part of it. Her mother, who always supported her, died when Billie was seventeen. Since then,her father has been slowly drinking himself to death on the family farm in Iowa, and she and her younger sister Mickie have grown even more estranged ... Despite Billie's attempts to look after Mickie following their mother's death, her sister consistently treated her with cruelty. So when Mickie invites Billie to move in with her in Los Angeles, Billie is both wary and hopeful. Taking a leap of faith, she joins her sister on the West Coast ... But then the siblings' difficult history once again rises to the surface"-- Provided by publisher of regular-sized print edition.