It begins with a monkey. It ends with an inescapable tragedy.

In 1957, Gwendolyn is living the domestic dream as the prized wife of the dashing Dr. Paul Stanley Bollinger, with three beautiful, healthy children and a charming Edwardian home in the historic town of Cape Girardeau.

Enter Eddie, an inebriated monkey brought home as a poker prize by her equally drunk husband. Thus begins Gwendolyn’s yearslong struggle to domesticate two unruly fellas. Eddie is a hilarious handful but no match for Paul Stanley and his increasing penchant for bourbon and nurses. Meanwhile, as the predictable 1950s evolve into the increasingly tumultuous ’60s and beyond, Gwendolyn finds her conservative beliefs challenged by the realities of racism, homophobia, traditional masculinity, the sexual revolution, and the struggle for women’s rights.

For over forty years, a time marked by hilarity, heartbreak, and tragedy, Eddie serves as her clown prince, her unexpected confidant, and when all is said and done, her solace. The story of Gwendolyn and Eddie is ultimately about cages-the ones we are born into, those we construct for ourselves, and the ones we impose on those we love.