Curt is a small-town cop in the Midwest; Sandy is the nineteen-year-old prostitute he first tries to arrest, then attempts to help, at the cost of his badge. What Rebecca Gilman makes of this familiar scenario is something real, delving deeply into the small space that can divide a feeling of hope from one of hopelessness, as Curt and Sandy both try to get a foothold in the American dream of a house, a job, a life, a relationship with another human being.