Delia Byrd, Kyra Sedgwick, is a native of Cayro, Georgia, and a recovering alcoholic who lives in Los Angeles with her surly ten-year-old daughter, Cissy, Regan Arnold. The former lead singer of the obscure blues-rock band Mud Dog, Delia is supported primarily by Randall Pritchard, Kevin Bacon, Cissy’s father and a fellow member of Mud Dog. The story opens with the motorcycle accident that takes Randall’s life, leaving Delia grief-stricken, nearly penniless, and desperate to reconcile with the daughters she left behind in Georgia.
When she arrives back in Cayro, the town’s people regard her as a hussy for abandoning her family, especially given her husband’s history of abusive behavior. After a fraught reunion with her grandfather, Granddaddy Byrd, Myron Natwick, Delia enrolls Cissy at the local school, takes a cleaning job, and sinks into a deep depression as she confronts the wreckage of the life she left behind. Her comeback attempt quickly collides with the stern lesson of Grandma Windsor, Jackie Burroughs, whose puritanical expectations loom large over the sisters and their father.
Seeking a path through the bitterness, Delia works to regain custody of her now-pubescent daughters—Amanda and Dede—from their grandmother. She enlists the aid of the Reverend Hillman, Dan Lett, at her mother-in-law’s church, who manages to coax a tentative agreement for visits, though Grandma Windsor never fully honors the bargain. Desperate, Delia makes a controversial arrangement with Clint Windsor, Aidan Quinn, the girls’ gravely ill father. He agrees to transfer legal custody if Delia moves into his house and cares for him in his final days, effectively inviting Delia and the three girls to join him under one roof.
The household is tense at first. Fourteen-year-old Amanda is devout and judgmental, often warning Cissy about the perils of hell; twelve-year-old Dede is more liberated, quick to light a cigarette, and frustrated by the restrictions of her grandmother’s world. The younger Cissy, caught in the middle, forms a quiet connection with Clint, who begins to open up about the early days of his marriage to Delia and the remorse he carries for past violence. After Clint dies, Cissy and Dede grow closer, while Amanda remains stubborn and emotionally distant, even as she eventually marries an aspiring preacher and welcomes two sons into the world.
Meanwhile, Cissy finds a confidant in a classmate named Nolan (a name that figures prominently in her sci‑fi‑loving circle), and he introduces her to new horizons—like spelunking—while secretly harboring feelings for Dede, who does not reciprocate. Dede, meanwhile, weaves through brushes with the law and a brief flirtation with addiction, eventually finding work managing the local convenience store. Her resilience deepens after a gun-toting ex-boyfriend is thwarted by Nolan’s intervention, setting the stage for a fierce, complicated love affair between Dede and Nolan.
As the years pass, Cissy’s ambition begins to pull her away from Cayro and toward UCLA, and Delia finds herself adrift again as Amanda and Dede have grown independent and left the nest. Yet Delia’s determination hardens into a new purpose: to be an anchor for her young grandsons and to build a life that honors the family she fought so hard to keep intact. In the end, the narrative threads—memory, forgiveness, and the stubborn courage to start anew—form a tapestry that paints a measured, hopeful portrait of a mother and her daughters across a Southern landscape.
