American small-town life in the 1950s wasn’t actually like Leave It to Beaver. In her ambitious first novel, Tricia Dower reveals the darker side of an era we tend to idealize. In the novel’s titular town, life is far from idyllic: mothers are frequently absent, fathers are usually controlling, and sex and violence are everywhere.

Dower follows five years in the lives of three teen girls: Linda Wise, who is naive, insecure, and babied by her doting parents; Tereza Dobra, who is rough around the edges, unafraid of her sexuality, and constantly battling her abusive stepfather; and Miranda Haggerty, who has lived an extremely sheltered life until the day her father, known in town as Crazy Haggerty, dies. The story opens on this fateful day, when the lives of the three girls intersect.

Following her father’s death, Miranda goes to live in a Catholic orphanage. Gossip about Miranda begins to spread through the town: not only was she prohibited from leaving her home while her father was alive, he also practiced Irish occultism and committed incest, convincing Miranda to conceive a divine child with him. Linda and Tereza presume that Miranda’s life is about to change for the better. The truth, however, turns out to be more complicated.

Dower does an excellent job chronicling the formative years of her central trio in a coming-of-age story that effectively tackles heavy subjects including domestic abuse, mental illness, and rape. While each girl’s story branches off in a different direction, each manages to remain equally compelling, and the shifting storylines and perspectives feel effortless.

Although the main characters are well-crafted, many of the novel’s secondary figures feel stiff and stereotypical, a drawback in an otherwise intriguing novel.