Growing Pains tells the story of writer and painter Emily Carr's life, from a proper Canadian girlhood, through her artist's training in San Francisco and Europe, through the years of despair when she stopped painting and raised dogs and rented out rooms to make ends meet, and finally to vindication and triumph when her greatness was at last recognized. With the ease of a natural storyteller and a painter's eye for description, Carr infuses her life story with an irresistible warmth, wit, and charm.