What happens when your dreams come face to face with economic reality? Do you compromise, lower your sights and find a way to some measure of comfort through a lower level of achievement? Or, do you stick doggedly to your course even though it promises no certain reward and may lead to total failure?

Deborah and Lawrence both face the decision to compromise or to pursue their goals with no thought for the consequences.

The fortune of one proceeds by compromise and ends in comfort. That of the other devolves into homelessness and a life on the street.

Set in Seattle during the recession of the early 1980's, this novel reflects its streets, back alleys and moody skies and provides a gallery of sharply drawn, unforgettable characters.