The dramas of families are the dramas of life, and in this remarkable book Scarf weaves a rich tapestry of the human story as she explores such topics as the nature of human love, nurturance, and attachment; sexuality and other appetites; substance abuse, including alcoholism and bulimia; the conscious and unconscious levels of a family's world; maladaptive yet common coping strategies, such as emotional triangling and scapegoating; and the eerie ways the past can exert an influence on a family in the present. These and so many other topics that affect a family's life over time are illuminated, and clarified, in Intimate Worlds, an astonishing and beautifully written book.