According to Wikipedia, a “coming of age” story is one which details a young person's transition from adolescence to adulthood. This describes Every Last Cuckoo, except Sarah Lucas’ transition is one from a comfortable coupled existence as a mature woman to one in which she must make her own way. At seventy-five, Sarah’s husband of fifty years has died unexpectedly leaving Sarah and their two dogs alone in their rural Vermont home. After months of grieving and reminiscing about both good times and bad, Sarah is forced out of her depression when she takes in her troubled grand-daughter, Lottie. In a true domino effect, the house soon fills with boarders, from Lottie’s teenaged friends to an Israeli pacifist. As Sarah opens her heart to those around her she soon discovers that she can live well in a world that is vastly different from the one she had always imagined.