Immigrant family life is often depicted as centered on food, but Joan’s Armenian-American family is obsessed with not eating. The daughters are expected to stay waif-like to attract wealthy American husbands and are taught to restrict their food from an early age.

With the help of her childhood friend Carol, Joan begins to resist the anorexic ideals enforced by her mother, grandmother, and aunt—the “Triumvirate” who rule the family. After Carol moves away, Joan and her older cousin Anahid secretly indulge in chocolate, pizza, ice cream, and other forbidden foods. Ironically, when Ani fulfills the Triumvirate’s dream by marrying into a wealthy steel-industry family, she finds herself deeply unhappy.

Both cousins eventually build successful adult lives, though they grow apart. Decades later, they reunite shortly before Ani’s death and reflect on their struggles to overcome their family’s damaging legacy. Joan comes to see that Ani’s rebelliousness stemmed from a childhood marked by hunger—for food, love, and a sense of abundance. Saying goodbye to her cousin, Joan resolves to ensure her own children never experience that same deprivation that plagued her own generation.