New Bethlehem, Indiana is about to collide with San Francisco, California.Naomi Bittner, returning to her roots in the Midwest, is unhappy that Ruth Greene, lesbian partner of her daughter, Marina, has insisted on accompanying her. Both women are mourning Marina. Neither woman understands why Marina has fled them both.As Naomi tries to reconnect the threads of a life she left years ago, hip young San Franciscan Ruth wends her way cautiously through the intricate interconnections of small town life, its assumptions and rigid standards of behavior. Slowly, she uncovers secrets, and closets.One of those closets is occupied by the highly admired town doctor, Belinda Boaz. An attraction building between Belinda and Ruth seems to have a hopeless future: Belinda is a generation removed from Ruth in age, has a daughter and a grandchild, and is deeply entrenched in a town seemingly unwilling to make room for a lesbian couple.Then, suddenly, shockingly, events careen out of control in the town of New Bethlehem...Crowe clothes the journey of these women in an ancient story -- the biblical tale of Ruth -- whose themes of friendship, perseverance, and welcoming the stranger have powerful echoes for our contemporary world.