Growing up in 1950s Detroit, the Kaufman sisters' roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But as the sixties begin, the world around them is changing fast. Soon nothing about their future seems to be what they'd hoped for or expected. Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child, while Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, putting the truth of what - and who - she really desires to one side. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of. Is it too late for them to stake a claim on the lives they really want?