The novel’s protagonist and first-person narrator, Ali is 38 years old and lives in Beechwood, New York, with her three children, Greer, Iris, and Cliffy. One year before the novel’s present, Ali’s husband, Pete, told her that he wanted to separate, and two years ago, Ali’s mother, Nancy (or Fancy), passed away. Therefore, when the novel opens, Ali is feeling “thick with grief” (2). She still misses her mom, with whom she was close since she was a little girl and who played a significant role in her adult and marital lives. She’s still adjusting to life as a single mother and struggles to balance her relationships with her kids, her household organization business, and her friendships with her neighbor Phyllis and her friend Frannie. In tandem, these circumstances overwhelm Ali and complicate her ability to engage with her life in a happy and positive way.

Once Ali pursues divorce proceedings with Pete, she begins to open herself up to life again. Even the simple actions of taking off her wedding band one morning and donning “what some might call an outfit” (24) grant Ali a new lightness and bolster her previously bogged-down emotional sphere. When she meets and goes out with Ethan, Ali becomes even more open to new experiences.