"Nita is sixteen, working in a diner, putting up with the coarse advances of her stepfather, and living on the edge of Jennings, Louisiana, when her brother sets her up on a blind date with Louis Toussaint. He is rude and cheap, Nita thinks, not exactly what she has in mind. But he has his own car and a good job in a bigger town than Jennings. When he offers her an engagement ring, Nita accepts what she believes is a ticket out of the place, the life she already feels is stifling her.

She leaves home and her humiliating nickname, "No-shoes Nita," behind, convinced that Louis can give her the life she deserves, if only he will work hard enough.".

"So begins a relentless cycle of expectation and disappointment that reaches its destructive zenith when two children are born and become the focus of Nita's fierce and misplaced aspirations. As Louis continues trying to please his beautiful wife and as their children bend under the pressure of her incessant demands, the Toussaint family begins to unravel."--BOOK JACKET.