Book-smart, devoutly Catholic and painfully unsure of herself, Jane becomes pregnant in high school; by her early 20s, she is raising three children. In the fall of 1991, she adopts a little girl from Eastern Europe. But Mirela is a difficult child. As Jane becomes consumed with chasing therapies that might help Mirela, her relationships with her family begin to fray. Feeling estranged from her mother and unsettled in her new high school, Lauren begins to discover the power of her own burgeoning creativity and sexuality. But when the teen is confronted with the limits of her youth and independence, Jane is forced to reconcile her principles and faith with her determination to keep her daughters safe.