When Alice Montgomery decides to tell the stories of her childhood, she sets herself up for a big surprise. She wants to express what it was like to be the only girl growing up with three brothers, an interfering aunt, and a distant, artistic mother. As a child who felt locked "outside the big oak doors" of her mother's heart, Alice begins to discover that there is more to her family than meets the eye. With every story she tells, she gets closer to the big story, the one that has been struggling to make itself heard.