Homeless and addicted, Wren wants to be alone. But the women chattering in her head insist that she must fulfill her destiny. She knows the ghosts are crazy to think that one small person can finally give voice to women, inciting lasting change in the patriarchy. She would prefer to continue using drugs to silence the voices. But an unwanted pregnancy complicates her plans. Alex has sacrificed having children to forward her career, but as she approaches fifty, she begins to feel that her existence is shallow. Tired of carefully watching her every move and choice of words for fear of men and their apparently uncontrollable urges and power needs, she walks out of her job. Recklessly, she invites Wren, the woman she has seen panhandling near her office building, to live with her. Wren finds herself welcoming the nurturing Alex readily offers, giving her the courage to finally explain to another person what, or who, haunts her. Alex has quietly tolerated many injustices at the hands of men but is astonished to find it’s nothing compared to what Wren has endured. In a life-threatening situation, Wren must either claim her fate—a life that has been planned out for years before her birth—or abandon her baby into the world that has been so cruel to women. The Sum of All Things is a powerful novel that discusses the gender dynamics which have played out across the globe for centuries. With clarity and passion, it does not shrink from the truth women want men to know.