Markedly different since childhood, and leading very different lives now, Frances and Cynthia have nevertheless managed to remain "devoted" - as long as they stay on opposite coasts. But with the reappearance of their elderly, long-estranged father they find themselves reunited for a cold, snowy Thanksgiving week, during which sleeping tensions and old griefs reawaken. At turns poignant and funny, this haunting novel demonstrates what happens when one person tries to rewrite another's history, and explores why families stay together even when it may be in their interests to keep apart.