In small-town America circa 1953, Anna is a young woman whose desire for mental health leads her to covet its latest fashion--transorbital lobotomy--the way some women covet the newest designer shoes. Her motivations are many. Raised in an archetypal cold-war family, Anna is haunted by her family's treatment of her brother as invisible when he returns "shell-shocked" from World War II and then by his sudden, unexpected death. Raised in a pre-feminist era where women are not expected to think for themselves, Anna is scooped by Billy, a small time gangster, when she is just barely old enough to be considered a woman. Billy guards his prize with insane jealousy. But when Anna witnesses Billy brutally murder her friend, a kindly nightclub owner, and she is prohibited by her family from attending her brother's funeral, Anna looks for a way to relieve her pain, yearning for fulfillment, clarity and calm as madness flickers around the edges of her life. She thinks she finds a panacea in the pages of Life Magazine and in sensational newspaper headlines, announcing the latest techniques in brain surgery. In the meantime, Dr. Harold Ashton, a renowned Neurologist, has come to town and become something of a local celebrity as her performs the new transorbital lobotomy on adolescents, alcoholics, veterans and other troubled types. Eventually, Anna is caught between Billy and Tom, a sympathetic Korean War vet on Billy's payroll. Anna meets Tom on the day she is to see Dr. Ashton and get her head fixed, but will it be too late? Will it be possible for Anna to ever be truly happy?