Mara and Jo are best friends. Mara is trustworthy, and Jo is troubled; they met when they were 14 years old. Their lives aren't stable, their jobs are precarious, and their dates aren't going anywhere; writing is something they do on the side, as is common in Brooklyn. The only constant in the midst of everyday events and chit-chat is their friendship, or rather, its dynamic: Mara's phone will ring and Jo will need her assistance, Mara will drop everything for her, but Jo's thoughts will already be elsewhere by the time she arrives. Though Jo's troughs deepen and Mara's resentment grows, the plot skips forward delicately, alighting on another manifestation of the same pattern each time. Time passes, and there are new jobs, new boyfriends, drugs, tears, and fresh starts, a pregnancy, and later a little girl, all of which continue to strain Jo and Mara's relationship.
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