As the story begins in 1940, Vivian appears as a nineteen-year-old college dropout from a wealthy family in upstate New York. She is tall, pretty, and lanky. Vivian rebels against the constraints of her family and their social class. After being shipped off to New York by her parents, Vivian goes to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns the Lily Theater. She immediately feels at home in the big city among Peg’s crowd, who are as free-spirited as Vivian is. The girl’s talent for sewing develops into a career in costume design.

Vivian’s liking for adventure leads to a sexual escapade that sends her home in disgrace, where she briefly becomes engaged to Jim Larsen. When World War II intervenes, the engagement is broken, and Vivian is free to return to New York. There she meets a traumatized veteran named Frank Grecco, who becomes the love of her life. At the age of eighty-nine, Vivian recounts her life story to Frank’s daughter, Angela.

Angela is an independent woman with a doctorate in psychology. In 2010, after her mother dies, she writes to ask what Vivian meant to her father, Frank.