When Belinda discovers her husband is having an affair, her world is turned upside down; she's furious, hurt, and bent on evening the score. But Belinda isn't the only one in her affluent suburban neighborhood suffering the indignities and disappointments of middle life. Instead of resting comfortably in the glow of earlier good decisions, she and her neighbors have just as much angst as they did in their twenties, even if the drama is buried under accreting layers of everyday life.

One of Belinda's friends fears her own husband is having an affair. But when she finds out there's no other woman - that he's found God instead - this, to her, is the biggest betrayal. A renowned artist, near death, is convinced that his entire life has been a waste. And a schoolteacher, upon achieving his dream of selling a screenplay to Hollywood, finds himself buffeted by the maddening whims of the studio execs (who are no longer looking for a serious drama, but a low-brow comedy about a talking dog).

And as the grownups in this searching, beautifully told story try to claw back the happiness that has slipped away, two college kids who believed they'd never find love discover a glimmer of hope.

Genre: General Fiction