In an old boarding house in the inner city, the lives of eleven young people intersect. Seven women and four men tell stories about wanting to belong - to a cult, to a culture, a country, a socio-economic group or a romantic relationship. Each character experiences a crisis. Each one discovers that what they want most is exactly what they can't have. Some abandon their aspirations; some buy illusion. And others journey from the solitary pleasure of passivity to the companionable discomfort of awareness. (Libraries Australia record).