'When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.' For years, Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now-grown daughters. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over twenty-four hours, this searing novel explores the ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion and the line between love and hate.

This is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the humanity and fluidity that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.