When a teenage boy falls off the roof at a high school party and dies, teenage Claire Hinkley must face the truth about her mother's disappearance. In doing so, she discovers that love is not always found where it is expected to be. Rather, it is found through the love of her irreverent and wholly present grandmother, Bernice, through Bernice's best friend Estelle, and through Estelle's granddaughter Annene Berry, a fringer with black hair and a fashion sense contrary to the fluffy sleeves and bright hues of the 80s in Alpharetta, Georgia Along the way, Claire discovers reserves she never knew she had and gains the strength to become a young woman who refuses to be shielded from the truth. The Good One demonstrates that wide generational gaps and age will never prevent women from bonding, learning from each other, and letting go.