Lawrence Ambrose

Moira Noonan is a physics major in her first year at the University of Illinois, Urbana, when the mother who deserted her fifteen years ago shows up one day on campus to give her a book: THE DIVIDED WORLDS: AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR CULTURES AND BIOLOGY.

“Read it,” her mom tells her, “and you’ll have your answers.” Then she departs, leaving Moira awash in anger and confusion.

Then Moira makes a fateful decision to perform a ritual detailed at the end of the book, altering her life forever.