Claire, a composer and a new mother, comes to Los Angeles so that her husband can follow his dream of writing television comedy. With Paul working all hours and Claire left with the baby, William, whom she adores but has no idea how to care for, they hire Lola, a fifty-two-year-old mother of five who works in America to pay for her own children's education back in the Philippines. Lola stabilizes the rocky household, and other parents try to lure her away. What she sacrifices to stay with Claire and William remains her own secret.
"This is a domestic novel and a highly political one."
Time
"It takes a very subtle, sophisticated, and confident writer to make our most common problems come off as unique on the page as they feel at three in the morning."
