Set in the wilds of Topanga Canyon, the story is narrated by Cassie Shaw, a nature lover with innate intelligence and charm who reinvents herself with unexpected consequences.

Dora, named after Eudora Welty, is an indiscriminate book junkie whose life has fallen apart -- her career, her marriage, and finally her self-esteem. All she has left is her love of literature, and the book benders she relied on as a child. Ever since her larger-than-life father wandered away and her book-loving, alcoholic mother was left with two young daughters, Dora and her sister, Virginia, have clung to each other, enduring a childhood filled with literary pilgrimages instead of summer vacations. Somewhere along the way Virginia made the leap into the real world. But Dora isn’t quite there yet.

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