Living in New Mexico, Angela has never known her father, and Marilyn, her mother rarely mentions him. When she does, tears and a complete withdrawal usually shuts down the conversation. All Angie knows is that his name was James, and he died before she was born. Her discovery of old pictures trigger a quest to really connect with her father. Searches on Ancestry.com don't yield anything useful, but she does discover he has a brother named Justin who might live in Los Angeles. Her ex-boyfriend Sam drives to California every year to visit his cousin, so Angie begs him to take her with him so she can find Justin and get answers about her father.
Eighteen years earlier, Marylin and her mother are forced to move back into her brother-in-law's apartment after they run out of money. Marylin had a career as a child model but things have dried up since she went through puberty, and every audition leads to heartaches when she is rejected. Marylin doesn't really care, however. She wants to go to college, and has her eyes set on Columbia. Her mother will never let her go however, because Marylin represents her ticket out of poverty to a life in a large house with nice cars.
When she meets James, the neighbor in the downstairs apartment, she is immediately smitten by him. Marylin is tall and blonde, and James is African-American, but both of them share the loss of a parent and a desire to escape their present conditions by going to college. Over the course of a few months, their relationship grows into love, but ends tragically.
The relationships of three mothers and daughters move this story forward. Each character is well defined and possesses intrinsic motivations. Angie's fears of being one in a seven billion world are real, but she learns during her trip that her mother did everything she could to ensure that Angie would have as happy a childhood as possible. She also discovers truths that ultimately make her a better person, even if they hurt. Fans of realistic fictions will love this story, told in alternating chapters, and will cheer as Angie and Marylin reconcile with each other and with the world around them.
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