London Maxwell has kept a mental list for nearly thirty years. She refers to it as the list of why she feels fat and inadequate, an unhealthy list to be sure. This list became one of the building blocks that formed the person London Abernathy Maxwell grew up to be. Other foundational building blocks included all of the unkind appraisals from others she refused to forget over the years, unrealistic expectations of a culture obsessed with youth and unattainable ideals of beauty, and her own critical ruminations. Nearly thirty years after he left London and her mother, London's father invites her to spend Christmas with him and his second wife. London accepts the invitation but returns home disappointed that the trip didn't lead to any kind of accord between herself and her father, or any progress in healing her badly damaged self image. Over the next few months she finds herself taking a scenic detour on her journey toward claiming the restoration she desperately desires. Her fellow wayfarers on this journey include her dearest friend who faces a foe she thought she had defeated; her mother who lost her husband but refuses to let go of anything else; and her daughter who is following London's blueprint of self loathing in building her own foundation. On this detour she encounters a man who broke her heart, a woman who personified the cultural ideal of beauty to a young London, and the grandmotherly figure whom London had forgotten about a long time ago. Many people have a role in helping London arrive at her destination. However, London cannot trade in her ashes for beauty until she accepts the truth from the One who saw her beauty before He spoke her into existence."