Mara and Jo have been best friends since they were teenagers. They met when they were 14 years old, and Mara is trustworthy and Jo is troubled. Their lives aren't solid, their jobs are in jeopardy, and their dates aren't going anywhere; writing is something they do on the side, as it is so often in Brooklyn. The only constant in their friendship, or rather, its dynamic, is that when Mara's phone rings and Jo needs her help, Mara will drop everything to help her, but Jo's mind will already be elsewhere by the time she arrives. Though Jo's troughs deepen and Mara's hatred deepens, the plot bounces along softly, alighting on another manifestation of the same pattern each time. Time passes, and new jobs, relationships, drugs, tears, and fresh starts, as well as a pregnancy and subsequently a baby girl, all pull at Jo and Mara's friendship.