Karen had two miracles in her life. One was Julian, the son born without a father, following a brief fling with a married academic who abandoned her and their offspring. The other was Anna May, the sister who ran away from home on the very day she announced that her name had been changed to Miracle, and was never seen or heard from again. Karen made her own professional career, first as a scientist, learned about motherhood by trial and error in a suburban neighborhood, and developed a loving home life with Bruce, an ex-addict, who at long last becomes a father to Julian.