How can you possibly win when you are your own worst enemy? Nancy Elaine Bower (Nan to those who know her well) weathers a childhood overshadowed by her father's alcoholism and mother's martyrdom only to be thrust into an adulthood littered with landmines of self destruction. Each erratic decision she makes twists and contorts her life in unthinkable ways, until finally she's left in a crumpled heap on her mother's doorstep. It's 1960, two years later, and Nan still meets each day as if a stranger intent on doing her harm. Hiding in plain sight from the world outside, she spends most of her time trying to win back the affections of her young son while thwarting her mother's ceaseless interference. As she begins to fantasize of a life more normal, the serendipitous return of an old friend breathes a spark of hope into this possibility. Before she can allow herself to consider walking away from her past though, Nan must escape the unyielding bars of circumstance that surround her, and while she'll be required to relive her greatest nightmare in order to do so, there is no guarantee of her release.