A year has passed since Ari gave birth to Walker, though it went so badly awry, she has trouble calling it "birth" to begin with, and she still can't locate herself in her own altered universe. Amid the strange, disjointed rhythms of her days and nights and another impending winter in upstate New York, Ari is a tree without roots, struggling to keep her branches aloft. When Mina, a one-time cult musician--older, self-contained, alone, and nine months pregnant--moves to town, Ari sees the possibility of a new friend despite her unfortunate habit of generally mistrusting women. Soon they become comrades-in-arms, and the previously hostile terrain seems almost navigable.