"Bessie Smith Connolly has lived with her Nova Scotia grandparents since she was small. But at seventeen'grieving the death of her steadfast grandfather, smarting from a split with the boy she loves'she escapes to Saskatoon to be with her mother, Isabel. Bittersweet, clear-eyed, and deeply affecting, this marvellous debut novel charts Bessie's course as she makes her way through her exploded family and out into the world."