Lara Love Hardin escaped the realities of a traumatic childhood by reading, which she considers her first addiction. Two of her siblings died young, including one from a heroin overdose. Her father and then stepfather abandoned the family, and she was raised by an absent, distracted mother. In high school, Hardin’s teachers recognized her excellence in writing, and she gained validation through her work. She was the first in her family to go to college and selected the University of California, Santa Cruz for its distance from her home in Massachusetts. In the 1980s, Hardin attempted to continue her escapism through sex, drugs, prescription medication, and food, but none of these brought her fulfillment. She tried mushrooms, LSD, and cocaine; slept with her resident adviser; remade her appearance; and tried to start over as a carefree Californian.

The narrative jumps to 2008. Hardin has not showered or eaten in three days when she takes her three-year-old son, Kaden, to a hotel she paid for with a stolen credit card. The electricity is off in their house, and they cannot go home, so she sneaks the dog and as many of their possessions in as possible.