Little Thelma`s family is so awful--abusive father, neglectful mother--that she`s convinced she`s adopted. Her childhood, in fact, is suffused with fantasy, including an imaginary friend named Heroin, and finally reaches the point where she can`t distinguish reality from imagination. This unusual coming-of-age story ends with Thelma, about to go off to study at Oxford, looking back on her troubled life.