美國當代女作家Anne Tyler於1941年出生，幼年在基督教教友群居的村莊渡過，所以深信家人之間應該真誠相待、彼此關懷的道理。

在故事中，Toby在舞會認識Mary就迫不及待地約她吃晚飯。她說：「你知道我有個女兒？」這句話是暗示她已婚？或是她晚上無法出門？於是他和她們母女一起到動物園玩，她女兒留著粗粗的辮子，老氣橫秋完全不像五歲小孩。Mary絕口不提前夫，所以Toby也不敢問她為何離婚。雖然Toby雙親反對，交往五個月後他們還是結婚了。Toby的雙親不但不喜歡這個孫女，也懷疑Toby會真的疼愛其他男人的女兒。
 They had known each other five months. Only five months, Toby's parents said. What did he want with someone else's child The child: that was what they really minded. The ready-made grandchild. How could he love some other man's daughter

但他真心地喜歡這個女兒！他們一起猜謎語、散步，睡前互相追逐丟枕頭。Mary說他寵壞女兒，女兒開始會頂嘴、不聽話，他倒覺得女兒乖巧得令人憐惜。有次因為女兒沒注意車道有車就闖過去，他嚇得心臟像被一股熱浪侵襲，膝蓋也發軟。成為有妻室的男人後，他發現恐懼的威脅無所不在，女兒去上美術課，他擔心路程太遠；打電話回家無人接聽時，他幻想著Mary不告而別，留下他孤家寡人。
 New opportunities for fear were everywhere, now that he was a family man. Every time he called home without an answer he imagined that Mary had run away from him and he would have to get through life without her.

他這麼愛著女兒更渴望生一堆孩子，Mary不但不願意還不喜歡Toby太疼愛女兒。四月復活節來臨，他想像著別家的小孩都有巧克力蛋和絨毛玩具，如果他空手回家，女兒一定很失望，就買個粉紅玻璃紙包裝的彩籃禮盒。Mary卻說她藏彩蛋讓女兒找才更有趣，雖然女兒很喜歡這個禮物也吃了彩籃裡的軟糖和棉花糖，但是Mary的反應卻讓Toby深感挫折。Mary肅穆美麗的臉彷彿是一張面具，嘴角常帶著一抹微笑卻不知內心想些什麼，兩個人的距離也愈拉愈遠。
  All he felt was a sense of defeat. Mary's face was serene and beautiful, like a mask. She continued to move farther and farther away from him, with her lips perpetually curved in a smile and no explanations at all.

六月某一天，Toby回到家看到Mary留下的一張紙條：「我走了！」Toby想起女兒應該在上美術課，他一路橫衝直撞趕到教室，女兒卻沒有來上課。他失魂落迫地回到家跌坐在沙發上，他不需要開燈也知道廚房的平底鍋、女兒的玩具及新買的短洋裝、Mary的裙子毛衣都還在，她們只穿走了自己的棉布衣。
 He felt his way to the sofa and sat down heavily. There was no need to turn the lights on. He knew already what he would find: toys and saucepans, Mary's skirts and sweaters, daughter's new short dresses. All they would have taken with them, he knew, was their long gingham gowns and each other.