As the novel’s protagonist and point-of-view character, 26-year-old Mae is unhappily living with her mother and brother at the beginning of the novel. Due to her lack of career vision and her current living situation, she admits, “I feel less money smart and more failure-to-launch” (107). When the novel opens, Mae’s career-related aimlessness is matched by the stagnant state of her romantic life. She has been in love with Andrew Hollis, the son of some of her parents’ best friends, since her teens, but she has always been too afraid to pursue him. After an evening of drinking, Mae shares an ill-advised kiss with Andrew’s brother, Theo, and briefly considers that this encounter might be proof that she should abandon her crush. Mae also struggles with change and feels responsible for managing the emotions of others, especially when she knows that this may be the family’s last Christmas at the Utah cabin she loves.

When an unexplained time loop forces Mae to repeat her vacation over from the beginning in Groundhog Day fashion after demanding a sign about her path to happiness, Mae comes to realize that obsessing over tradition and the well-being of others is holding her back in life.