内容简介：
A Dickensian story of two brothers who come from nowhere and want everything. Paul and Johnnie are born twelve years apart, in a one-bedroom apartment. Their progress is rapid and devastating, and others are consumed by it.Paul marries Louise; Johnnie is part of the contract, while their daughter Anna is tangled in it from birth. Paul deals in property; seductive, self-destructive Johnnie deals in crime. When Johnnie has to flee the country, Louise goes with him. Because this has been her story too, right from the beginning, and she's going to tell it in all its crookedness, force and tenderness.