It's August, 1967, as the first wave of hippies pours into San Francisco for the "Summer of Love," when 17-year-old Rae, a questing innocent from Alabama, traveling with parents, meets two destined to define her life. Chloe, an idealistic flower child, and her lover Garth, a charismatic radical. Rae comes away with a lifelong relationship with Chloe that transcends their differences -- with Garth to be the dark figure between them. Returning home to marry the Air Force boy friend Charley, Rae is suddenly widowed at 18. Needing comfort from serene friend Chloe, she flies back to Berkeley where the counter culture scene is becoming bitter. A distraught Rae returns home to find she's pregnant by Garth. The reader follows Rae's transformation from a suburban southern girl-wife to a woman, alone with a child, struggling to survive. For a time she is sheltered by favorite Aunt Vyola at the cottage, which, like Vyola and Chloe, remains a presence in her life. To train for a job, Rae leaves her young son with a critical sister-in-law. She not only survives, but thrives, going from one career success to another, and in the process losing her son and her soul -- almost.