In the 1950s and 60s, living with family secrets was nearly mandatory for women in high society. Charlotte Wellington and her daughter, Caroline, are no exception. When Charlotte's husband, John, begins showing signs of alcoholism, Charlotte prays that she won't have to go through life with her husband as she had with her alcoholic father. She quickly makes John promise that he won't drink anymore. Unfortunately, it's a promise that John can't or won't keep.

As Caroline grows up watching her mother have accident after accident, she knows that she will never let a man treat her the way her father treats her mother. But when tragedy strikes, Charlotte and Caroline must pick up the pieces and put their lives back together. As Caroline moves on to college, life continues as she blossoms into womanhood.

Follow this mother and daughter through all seasons of life—from birth and death to love and loss and dark family secrets—over a period of fifty-two years, and learn how one family tries to make the best out of a tragic situation in A Season for Living.