Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a way of managing her thriving family with grace and humor. With twin daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth, and a kindergartner from her second marriage, there seems to be nothing Olympia can’t handle…until one sunny day in May, when she opens an invitation for her daughters to attend the most exclusive coming-out ball in New York–and chaos erupts all around her.

For Olympia’s husband, Harry, the idea of a blueblood debutante ball is abhorrent. Her daughter Veronica, a natural-born rebel, agrees–while identical twin, Virginia, is already shopping for the perfect dress. Then there’s Olympia’s ex, who sees the ball as the perfect opportunity for a family feud. Amid everything, Olympia’s college-age son, Charlie, is facing a turning point in his life and will need his mother more than ever. But Olympia is determined to steer her family through the event–until, just days before the cotillion, things begin to unravel with alarming speed.

From a son’s crisis to a daughter’s heartbreak, from a case of the chickenpox to a political debate raging in her household, Olympia is on the verge of surrender . . . until a series of startling choices and changes of heart, family and friends, turn a night of calamity into an evening of magic. As old wounds are healed, barriers are shattered and new traditions are born–and a debutante ball becomes a catalyst for change, revelation, acceptance, and love.