The novel follows August, a woman who spent her childhood living with the thought that her mother isn’t actually dead, despite her not being there. August has a brother and father who are religious and follow the teachings of the nation of Islam. When her father suddenly dies, and August reunites with her brother, he suggests that she should marry a Muslim man. Finding herself back in Brooklyn, August has a feeling of unease, despite living her life as an anthropologist who should have no fear of death. On the subway, she recognizes one of her childhood friends, Sylvia. August gets an irrational urge to escape from Sylvia.
The novel jumps back into August’s childhood and recollects how her mother used to talk to her dead brother and how her father suddenly moved them to a different home, to live without their mother. August remembers meeting Sylvia, Gigi and Angela for the first time. When their father allows August and her brother to leave their home, August befriends the three girls. August also recalls the night her father moved them away from their mother to Brooklyn. She recalls hearing them arguing and her mother accusing her father of cheating because her brother, who was dead at the time, told her so.
Further, in the story it is revealed that one of the girls, Gigi, was raped by a drug-addict living in the same building as her. He soon died from overdose. The girls find comfort and support in each other as they grow older and attract unwanted attention. August also discovers a jar with ashes, and after inquiring with her father, it is left unsaid that the ashes belong to her mother, despite August being determined in her belief that their mother will return.
As the time passes, August father engages with the opposite sex, and he discovers Sister Loretta, who pulls him and her brother into the Nation of Islam. Meanwhile, as they grow even older, the group of girls becomes more and more apart, going their separate paths in life. Angela’s mother is suddenly found dead, and Angela gets taken to a foster home. Sylvia alienates herself from the group as well, preoccupied with her education. August’s brother keeps reminding her that their mother is not coming back.
August’s boyfriend breaks up with her because she doesn’t want to sleep with him. She soon discovers him at Sylvia’s side, who, not long after, gets pregnant with his child. Gigi, determined to keep the group together, invites Sylvia and August to her performance, but neither of them shows up. Gigi gets ridiculed by the audience and commits suicide. August also realizes that her mother committed suicide by jumping into the water at their old home.
The novel ends with a recounting of August’s life after leaving Brooklyn. She went to a good university and spent her life studying death and sleeping with men her father and brother would frown at.
