Sister Sarah is a damaged young woman who is sure Brother Jed has the answers. Every evening he stands on a box on the worst corner in town bringing the Good Word to all the lost people walking by, while she and her fellow sisters hand out pamphlets. Sister Sarah has found a safe community to which to belong; she believes in what she is doing, and she likes her fellow sisters. But when she witnesses a tragedy, it’s too much for her to fit into her neat little worldview. She must know more, and the more she knows, the more she needs to do something to help. In the end, that help may cause Sister Sarah—and the people of Block E—more harm than it does good.

It’s 1979 on Block E, a woebegone Times Square-type district filled with characters of all stripes—hookers and the homeless, addicts and drug dealers. But the streets also belong to the hopeful—the many people wanting so much more. These are the Tales of Block E, three stories of people in a place and a time long gone but not forgotten.