A story of love, lust, and pest control set against the changing seasons of San Francisco. When Dawn leaves her boyfriend of five years ? charismatic, larger-than-life David ? she leaves behind their cozy, artsy home, their rose garden, and their life of couplehood. With her nine-year-old daughter, Jewel, in tow, she hopes to make a new life; one in which she doesn?t feel overshadowed by David's personality and success as a painter. A life in which she works as an exterminator by day and at night is left to work on her portfolio of insect illustrations. Dawn and Jewel rent a home with a small apartment downstairs, and set out to find a tenant. They soon hear from Harlan, a frustrated documentary filmmaker whose world is quietly crashing down on him too. Over the course of a year ? climbing up and downstairs to each other's apartments, playing cards, drinking hot chocolate in the summer fog and beer in the winter warmth, and slowly transforming their backyard garden in a sanctuary ? Dawn, Jewel, and Harlan's lives become effortlessly interwoven. In her first novel since the acclaimed memoir, The Toaster Broke, So We?re Getting Married, Pamela Holm brings us a poignant and often very funny story about monogamy, motherhood, and the wonders of gardening.