"An Irish Catholic whose mother left home when she was only five, Paige has a special talent. She often finds, buried in her drawings, images that others recognize as details of their pasts or their innermost longings. Overwhelmed by guilt after an abortion, Paige finishes high school and runs away from home instead of checking into the Rhode Island School of Design. She practices her art at her job (at a diner aptly called Mercy), sketching the customers in a promotion called the Chicken Doodle Soup Special. It's through her insightful portraits that she meets her husband-to-be, Nicholas Prescott, an egocentric medical student and future heart surgeon. His wealthy parents disown their son and estrange themselves from the young couple, and Paige works to help Nicholas through medical school. When their first child is born, Paige completely loses her self-confidence and embarks on a search to reestablish her identity and to find her own mother. Stranding the self-centered Nicholas with a new baby turns out not to be the worst possible decision, and the repercussions from this impulsive move help mend family rifts."--Booklist.