A young woman is haunted by her roommate's murder; a man and his daughter-in-law confess their sins in the unlikeliest of places. In one quartet of interlocking stories, two middle-aged friends, married to others, find themselves surprisingly drawn to each other, risking all while never underestimating the cost. In another linked set of stories, readers follow a mother and son for thirty years as their small and uncertain family becomes an irresistible tribe.

William and Clare -- Your borders, your rivers, your tiny villages -- I love to see you coming, I hate to see you go -- Old impossible -- Compassion and mercy -- Between here and here -- Sastrugi -- Sampson Family -- Sleepwalking -- Night vision -- Light into dark -- Fort useless and fort ridiculous -- By-and-by -- Where the God of love hangs out.