Rose, the mother of 20-something aspiring writer Jules, has waited three months for answers about her daughter's death. Why was she swimming alone when she feared the water? Why did she stop texting days before she was last seen?

When the official investigation rules the death an accidental drowning, the body possibly lost forever in Central America's deepest lake, an unsatisfied Rose travels to the memoir workshop herself.

She hopes to draw her own conclusion-and find closure. When Rose arrives, she is swept into the curious world created by her daughter's literary hero, the famous writing teacher Eva Marshall, a charismatic woman known for her candid-and controversial-memoirs.

As Rose uncovers details about the days leading up to Jules's disappearance, she begins to suspect that this glamorous retreat package is hiding ugly truths.