Astrid Strick is the 68-year-old matriarch of the Strick family and a central protagonist in the novel. She has spent her life in service of societal norms around motherhood and family. When her husband died, Astrid continued her life in her beloved town of Clapham and took over raising her three children. Astrid was a straightforward mother, but now in her older age, she reflects on her past and wonders if she made the right decisions. Astrid worries about her kids and their adult lives, looking for clues in how she raised them to explain how their lives are in the present. She worries that she impressed too-rigid gender roles on her oldest son, Elliot, and that she prevented him from exploring his sexuality in a healthy way. She worries that her daughter, Porter, will struggle as a single mother, and she acknowledges that her youngest son, Nicky, doesn’t trust her parenting methods. All three of Astrid’s children have different needs and take different paths as they move toward reconciliation with her; Astrid reflects on her relationship with them as she embarks on a new chapter in her life.

When Astrid’s long-time neighbor and sometimes nemesis Barbara Baker dies suddenly, Astrid takes a deep look at her life and mortality.