When Grace Saunders vowed to take her husband for better or worse, she meant every word. She and Jamie are solid, mutually supportive, and certain of their future together. And then, on a hiking trip for their 15th anniversary, an accident leaves Jamie in a coma, unable to move or communicate.

As months pass, Grace is in limbo - still married, yet utterly alone and burdened with responsibilities that threaten to sink her. Meeting Nan and Monica, unlikely friends who need Grace almost as much as she needs them, makes life bearable, if not quite happy. But a chance evening spent with a man she barely knows brings Grace a glimmer of joy she hasn't felt since the tragedy - joy that is, however, followed by feelings of turmoil and guilt. At work, she faces a different sort of crisis, as well as her need to keep the job that pays for Jamie's medical care.

Grace has always assumed that bright, clear lines separate right from wrong. Now that idealism is blurred by dilemmas that test her beliefs about marriage and loyalty, and she must look to her new friends and inside herself for answers. This poignant novel explores the limits of responsibility - to others and to ourselves - and the breadth and wisdom of love.