In 1970s Chattahoochee, Florida, where the main employer is a mental institution, it's sink or swim for Lily. When her mother, a former beauty queen who once dreamt of being Miss Florida, takes Lily and her siblings fishing one morning, Lily nearly drowns while her mother looks on, weighing her gains against her losses. Lily proves to be a survivor, though, and she goes on to struggle to stay afloat amidst her mother's slow mental deterioration, her first love, and her quest to come to terms with who she is and what she wants from this crazy world.