Adopted as a toddler, Cathleen has spent her entire life coming to terms with childhood abuse, resulting in a self-destructive life as wild and glamorous as it is tragic and filled with loss. Caught in a whirlwind of addiction, sex, and her own anxiety, she seeks love from partners and her unyielding family, never finding it. Yet in an unexpected moment, she discovers that her biological mother is still alive, but in an institution. With renewed energy, she launches a mission to find and connect with her, to learn about the circumstances that have made her life what it is. What she finds is nothing like what she expected, and yet everything she already knew. The only constant in her roller-coaster life has been her dream to be a writer, despite constant discouragement. As we hear her own truth, the reader realizes that Cathleen's story is not so different from our own, and that it's even more real than anyone ever imagined.