The reader should know that this novel is concerned with violent sexual assault, which may be severely triggering for victims of abuse.
Michael and Corinne are married with four kids, named Michael II, Patrick, Marianne, and Judd. Mr. Mulvaney works as a successful entrepreneur. He owns a roofing company. Corinne, his wife, is a brilliant optimist and a good homemaker. One unfortunate night, young Marianne goes to a Valentine's dance. After the dance, she goes to a party and drinks with her friends. She drinks too much, and she is raped by another, older student. He is the son of another successful businessman, and their parents know each other from business.
When Marianne tells her father about the rape, he is deeply disturbed. He demands the daughter press charges, but Marianne feels that she must protect herself from the trauma of such an endeavor. The father loses respect for his own daughter for this and sends her to Salamanca to live with extended family Marianne becomes a wanderer, removed from her home. She lives somewhere for awhile and then moves on, never quite feeling "at home."
Mr. Mulvaney finds himself locked into a serious drinking habit. His success and reputation dwindle as he falls apart. They sell their farm and declare bankruptcy. The Mulvaney boys are so disappointed that they leave their mother and father behind. One of the three brothers, not content with the outcome of Marianne's decision, decides to murder her rapist.
Years later, the Mulvaney family comes together again, this time as a family of adult children and their spouses. The passing years have helped them to learn to work through the trauma, and they finally find the solace they needed when they talk peacefully and openly about what happened.
