Synopsis
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity.
Arriving in Chicago, the curious, earthbound Cyd finds herself in a kind of 21st century wonderland, vulnerability emerging as as she encounters a world different from her own. As they begin to feel each other out, Cyd discovers that her aunt is more interested in literature, Christian theology and food than romance and sexuality, while Miranda realizes her niece is operating in a different register, embracing body over soul, and hungry as hell.
After a jog one afternoon, Cyd gets lost heading home and asks for directions in a local coffee shop, where she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the strikingly androgynous Katie. As they start to spend time together, Cyd meets Katie’s brother and his strange friend Tab, who seems to take a provocative, potentially dangerous liking to his friend’s sister. As Cyd and Katie get to know each other, Miranda has an increased sensitivity to the attraction felt from her best friend, author and journalist Anthony James, single father of a young son.
During one of Miranda’s monthly soirees, at which several of her closest friends from academia and church gather to celebrate each other, Cyd meets a dreamy young man named Ridley, who attempts to sweep her up. Struggling to navigate these complicated, curious feelings, Cyd yields to his flirtations. At the same time, Katie, left alone with Tab at her apartment, increasingly senses trouble. Later that night, Miranda and Cyd stealthily rescue Katie from potential violence, and she ends up back home with Miranda and Cyd, safe.
As the days press on, Miranda, Cyd and Katie form a special bond, eventually gathering with Anthony at a block party. As the two dynamics meld into one colorful and complex modern quartet, they each find themselves transformed by this stretch of summer, challenged to continue living in their evolution even as they part ways.