Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal. Having always resisted the idea of “growing up” and the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend, Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Sigrid was never close with her older sister, Margit, who is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.

Sigrid’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She’s haunted by the pains of her past—both distant, like when she pretended her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments, and more recent, as she grapples with losing Greta’s friendship amid the opioid epidemic ravaging their town. As Margit sets out to understand Sigrid and the secrets she has hidden, both sisters, in their own time and way, discover that reigniting their shared childhood imagination is the only way forward.

This book contains mentions of suicide, sexual assault, and domestic abuse.