Original Sins by Lisa Alther

They call themselves 'The Five' -- Sally and Emily Prince and Jed, Raymond, and Donny Tatro. Convinced they are special, they spend their Tennessee childhoods trading dreams in the branches of the Castle Tree. As children of the fifties, they are filled with wild ambitions and determined to live gaudy, glamorous lives. Lisa Alther's brilliant, broad-canvas story follows them from childhood to adulthood. The ties that bind them begin to dissolve when they become teenagers, yet the vibrant story continues -- and each member of The Five travels in a direction that he or she could have never anticipated. In this intelligent and heartbreaking novel, Alther brings to life not only the passions of her characters, but the fantasies and follies of an entire generation as well