Synopses & Reviews
Mamie Clark, raised on the sacred Hawaiian island of Kaua'i is imbued with a sensuousness as potent as that of the island itself. But as she nears adulthood, Mamie is determined to find her place in the alluring world outside the palm groves of her home, determined to free herself from the island's ancient spell. She leaves college to visit her worldly aunt in New York, where she is joined by her younger sister, Claire. Claire's self-destruction becomes a foil to Mamie's earnest and romantic nature as they make their way through the treacherous decadence of a society obsessed with money, power, sex and drugs. Mordant, funny and magical at once, Susanna Moore gives us an uncompromising look at New York in the eighties, and a moving, true portrait of a young woman coming to terms with herself and her past.