What happens when you mix the South, the sixties, coming of age, a dysfunctional family, mental illness.....? Susan Crandall introduces us to a young girl Tallulah trying to make sense of a father who suffers with being bi-polar, a mother who is more interested in wanting to work on social causes rather than being with and caring for her four young children. Tallulah’s grandmother is the rock of the family but has the key to family secrets. Crandall allows the reader to feel all of the emotions toward this family. There is “perpetual” hope that Tallulah will survive the problems of her family and somehow her family will survive. I enjoyed this modern “gothic” story with its twists and turns.