Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two lives joined by friendship. The only child of wealthy parents, Jillian knows a life of privilege. Lesley is one of many and her life is filled with scrimping and sacrifice. As they grow up through the 1950s and 60s, their circumstances, their choices--and their mistakes--take them in virtually opposite directions. Lesley stays in their Washington state hometown. She gets pregnant and marries young, living a cramped life defined by the demands of small children, not enough money--never enough money--and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years in a completely different way: on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City. Through the years and across miles, through marriage, children, divorce and widowhood, Jill and lesley remain friends. They confide everything in each other--every grief and every joy.