Faust introduces herself as a historian and describes Necessary Trouble as her contribution to history. She writes, “History is about choices and […] how individuals make those choices within the structures and circumstances in which they find themselves” (7). She hopes that illustrating her choices while “trying to become a person” (7) during the tumultuous 1960s will show how far America has come as a nation, even if the country still has further to go.

Faust’s mother, Catharine Ginna Mellick, passed away suddenly on Christmas Eve of 1966. When Faust returned home from college for the winter holiday, her mother was already ill in bed. They never settled the argument from her previous visit, nor the broader tensions in their relationship. At Catharine’s funeral, an attendee accused Faust of killing her mother. However, Faust argues that she “had to fight with [her] mother [to] survive” (12) and remarks that her mother’s “failure to fight for herself—for a self—had contributed to the tragedy that was her life” (12).

Faust’s family hid and ignored “anything difficult or unpleasant” (12), including her mother’s illness and eventual death. For years, Catharine’s disordered eating was taken for granted, as was her chain smoking.