Rosie is a self-assured, pragmatic woman who enjoys the thrill of her job as an ER doctor. Though she admits that being the mother of five children is exhausting, she loves the joys that family-making brings. This is in part due to the death of her younger sister Poppy at the age of 10. Rosie meets her future husband, Penn, during her medical residency in Madison, Wisconsin. Penn’s persistence in courting Rosie, and his willingness to wait in the ER waiting room all night to get a glimpse of her, foreshadow Penn and Rosie’s future compatibility in raising a large family. However, Rosie’s tendency to use her left brain at times gets in the way of her ability to look at the world or a problem in a holistic manner. Throughout much of the book, Rosie troubleshoots solutions to her family’s concerns and attempts to plan for the unknown. However, by the end, Rosie has learned to be open to the unknown and to take life as it comes.

Penn is an idealistic novelist who falls in love with Rosie before he even meets her. He functions as the family’s heart, relying on his belief in redemption and