Liza Tillerman Timeline and Summary

Liza grows up in Crisfield, Maryland with two older brothers, a domineering father, and a mother who never disagrees with her husband.
When she's twenty-one, Liza meets Francis Verricker and leaves home with him, but not before telling her mother that she'll never get married.
Liza and Francis move to Provincetown, where they eventually have four children together.
Around 1975, while Liza is pregnant with her fourth child, Francis abandons their family.
Over the years, times are tough for Liza and her kids; she doesn't have much money and eventually loses her job, plus her mental state starts to slip.
In June of 1981, Liza wakes up her children in the middle of the night and gets them in the car to take a road trip to Bridgeport, where she will ask her rich Aunt Cilla for help.
Liza stops the car in a mall parking lot in Peewauket, though, and leaves Dicey in charge before she wanders off into the mall.
Liza never returns to the car.
Later, she winds up in a mental hospital in Massachusetts.
The doctors there believe that she is in a catatonic state and won't ever recover.