The History of Great Things

Lois is a daughter of the Depression Midwest who came to New York to transform herself into an opera star. Her daughter, Elizabeth, is an aspiring writer who came of age in the 1970s and '80s in the forbidding shadow of her often-absent, always larger-than-life mother. When Elizabeth chronicles the events of her mother's life, Lois in turn recounts her daughter's story. By pulling back the curtain on lifelong secrets and defending their own behavior, they ultimately come to understand each other.