Camille grew up in the oppressive, picture-perfect environment of Wind Gap, Missouri, under the thumb of her wealthy, manipulative mother, Adora. Her younger sister, Marian, died of a prolonged illness when Camille was a teenager, a tragedy that fractured the family and cemented Camille's deep-seated trauma. Unable to cope, she began self-harming by carving words into her skin. She eventually escaped to Chicago and became a journalist, using her work to distance herself from her past. 