In the charged political landscape of Reagan-era Washington, a young woman finds herself grappling with her father’s high-profile scandal and her own impending divorce, forcing her to confront her privileged childhood and navigate the notoriety of a personal friendship with the first family.

I think about my glamorous wedding again. I imagine myself choking on a cheese ball, in my lace wedding gown, guests rushing over arguing about who does the best Heimlich maneuver, my face bright red from lack of oxygen. Then, as if that weren’t bad enough, I pass out on the dance floor of the tented tennis court where our lavish reception was held. My father, in his tux, at the mic, in front of the Les Brown Orchestra, telling everyone the marriage won’t last and he might go to prison. The shattered fairy tale is on a loop inside my head.

How did my life reverse itself so drastically?

For Pamela Wick, President and Mrs. Reagan were simply Ronnie and Nancy, her parents’ best friends. What began with Pamela’s mom and Nancy organizing the chili booth at their kids’ school fair in Los Angeles soon propelled Pamela’s parents into pivotal roles that would help Reagan secure the California governorship and eventually the grand prize: the White House.

Determined to win her parents’ approval as the perfect daughter, Pamela marries the son of Republican royalty and joins them in DC to begin her fairytale in the nation’s Capitol—or so she thought. What follows is her firsthand look behind the scenes at the gilded age of the Reagan years in Washington, DC—an era now long gone. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always insightful, the narrative chronicles her journey to penetrate Washington society at the highest levels—from Christmas Eve at her family home with President Reagan dressed as Santa Claus, to intimate dinners at the White House. But behind the golden gates, Pam’s marriage is unraveling, and her father’s high-profile political scandal threatens to destroy their carefully constructed life. Soon, she’s trading in glitzy state dinners for congressional hearings attacking her father, and at the center of the Reagan revolution, Pam’s own personal uprising begins.