Daily life in Monticola is harsh for Pia—and even harsher for the weak. Every day she struggles to put a few bites of food in her sibling's bellies and keep her sister's illness at bay while her father disappears and returns without coin and her mother trades in products Pia doesn't want to think about.

Only through the combined efforts of Pia and her family can they all remain safe and semi-warm in their rented home. Yet as her sister's treatments get more expensive, her mother suffers an unfortunate end to her pregnancy, and her father returns to drinking, Pia is forced to desperate actions to keep her family together and safe.