Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah's own life, her parents marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes – just maybe – lie the answers to love's most bewildering questions.
But over the next decade and a half, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated. At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who's not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky – or just pathetic?
None of the relationships in Hannah's life are without complications. There's her father, whose stubbornness Hannah realises she's unfortunately inherited. There's her gorgeous cousin, Fig, whose misbehaviour alternately intrigues and irritates Hannah. There's Henry, whom Hannah first falls for in college, while he's dating Fig. And then there are the boyfriends who love her more or less than she deserves, who adore her and break her heart.
By the time she's in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most – but she doesn't yet know whether she'll find the courage to go after it.
