"There was no point in telling Dorie that an education, even one in psychology, is no protection from the inherited mess with which we're let loose upon this life; that psychologists stumble and fall as hard, and with as much puzzlement, as anybody else."

Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Jen is a solitary and somewhat diabolical child who comes up with – at best – unusual ways of dealing with a life that never goes quite the way that she thinks it should. The linked stories of this collection follow Jen from childhood to middle age, jaunting through misadventures and marriages, learning all the while that while you can leave your hometown, your past still has a way of finding you.

In prose rich in characterization and insight, That's Where You Were, Then explores the places we've been and the baffling absurdities we encounter along the way.