In this fast-paced, character- driven novel, Kit Lavoie has lost her college scholarship, and is back at her seaside home north of Boston. Responsible for her childlike mother and her brother, Larry, she takes a job with a personal injury lawyer. Kit willingly goes along when her boss enlists her to help snare a wealthy defendant who could make the firm millions-until the facts of the case pit Kit's conscience against her need to make a living. As Larry, sexually unsure and impulsive, learns to trust himself, he gives his sister the courage to act. Set on the windy ocean marshes north of Boston, How to Earn Your Keep takes a hard look at how economic stress can unravel one's morality. And how, sometimes, one illuminating moment can bring us back to our senses.