Massachusetts, 1970s. Born to a pair of โbleeding heartโ professors who live on campus as dorm parents, Frederica Hatch soon finds herself the unofficial mascot of Dewing College. Life is so ideal that by the time she becomes a teenager, Frederica finds herself chafing under the care of the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization. But sheโs about to learn that life isnโt as simple or idyllic as it seemsโeven amid the manicured lawns of a small womenโs college like Dewing. A new dorm parent has just arrived on campus. Laura Lee French is glamorous, worldly, and the former wife of Fredericaโs father. Suddenly, Frederica sees her parentsโ livesโand by extension her ownโin a whole new light.