Twenty-eight year old Darla Moon longs to break free from life in Paradise, Oklahoma, the small-town she grew up in, and pursue her dreams in New York City. A talented seamstress and designer, she is cursed with a semi-retired hooker for a mother, a hypochondriac for a sister, a no-good loafer for a brother-in-law, a frog-collecting grandma, and Momma's British lesbian friends, Muff and Freda Bottrell - "Clairvoyants and Tea Leaf Readers Extraordinaire".
But Darla is also blessed with the devotion of Elijah True, an elderly black man who nurtured her through childhood and the unexpected love of the Reverend Spirit E Jackson, a transplanted Australian who drives into town in an old white Cadillac and sweeps her off her feet.
Darla's plans to escape Paradise erupt into turmoil when her family once again stands between her and her suitcase. First, Momma runs off with a trucker, then Darla's sister is hospitalised with cancer, her brother in law is thrown in jail for the statutory rape of the next-door-neighbour's sixteen-year old daughter. Left unsupervised, Granny gets into trouble looking for her frogs and Pearl, Darla's fourteen-year-old niece, can't cope with what is happening to her world. Torn between her love for Spirit, her love for her niece and nephew and the need to pursue her dreams, Darla find she must confront all the hard-to-accept truths regarding love, responsibility and survival.
