Pegged as the loser in a small-town family, Ruth grows up, unlovely and unloved - and in the shadow of her brilliant brother. With no ticket out of Honey Creek, she cleaves to her tough and bitter mother, May and tries to keep the peace between her and Ruby, the sweet but slightly deranged man she marries and supports.
But when the precarious household erupts in violence, it is Ruth who is left to piece their story together - and she gets at the truth in a manner at once ferocious, hilarious, and heartbreaking.
