Maeve Beaufort's family is messy and complicated, rife with competing demands, difficult compromises, and on-the-spot judgment calls. She is the single mother of Noelle, who has anaphylactic reactions to nuts, and Norm, a nonconformist child whom everyone wants to diagnose. Her father is spending his retirement on high-ticket items he doesn't need, her children's teachers are suggesting medication, and her mood-swinging mother is threatening to move in. Newly diagnosed herself with Crohn's disease, Maeve feels as though she is failing herself, her parents, and her children. But with spirit and determination--and a healthy dose of survival humor--she gives it her best go. Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, underappreciated, underpaid, and underwater will find a kindred spirit in Maeve.

When twenty-year-old Jess discovers that her mother has woven their family history from lies, she begins searching for her sperm donor daddy. In the sixties, when Jess was born, it was still common practice to recruit sperm donors from among medical students. Jess identifies her father in his class yearbook and runs away from home to find him as a practicing MD.

Maeve Beaufort's family is messy and complicated, rife with competing demands, difficult compromises, and on-the-spot judgment calls. She is the single mother of Noelle, who has anaphylactic reactions to nuts, and Norm, a nonconformist child whom everyone wants to diagnose. Her father is spending his retirement on high-ticket items he doesn't need, her children's teachers are suggesting medication, and her mood-swinging mother is threatening to move in. Newly diagnosed herself with Crohn's disease, Maeve feels as though she is failing herself, her parents, and her children. But with spirit and determination--and a healthy dose of survival humor--she gives it her best go. Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, underappreciated, underpaid, and underwater will find a kindred spirit in Maeve.

When twenty-year-old Jess discovers that her mother has woven their family history from lies, she begins searching for her sperm donor daddy. In the sixties, when Jess was born, it was still common practice to recruit sperm donors from among medical students. Jess identifies her father in his class yearbook and runs away from home to find him as a practicing MD.