I really liked the whole world Alice McDermott set her story in--early 20th C Brooklyn, and somewhat reminiscent of Call The Midwives. Most of the story revolves around the Little Sisters of the Sick Poor and their work caring for members of the community. Annie, a young widow, works for the sisters in their laundry room, and her little girl Sally grows up among them. All the characters are 3-dimensional, none all good or all mean, which is saying a lot when someone writes about Catholic nuns. McDermott seemed to have no ax to grind with the Church, at least not the nuns. But she had a story to tell, first of Annie's loss of her husband to suicide, the good milkman she becomes friends with, and raising Sally as a single mother. Sally seems destined to take vows herself, but we know through some foreshadowing in the novel that is not meant to be. I thought about the ending for a couple of days before I realized what had happened. This story stays with you.