Myra Swenson enjoys a degree of satisfaction as a freelance dominatrix until an unforeseen event entangles her into a net of suspicion and false accusations perpetrated by a mysterious woman in a corduroy mackintosh. And other individuals complicate Myra's world as well: a neighbor pregnant by a cross-dressing boyfriend; a depressive part-time paramour; a Quaker octogenarian who relishes pornography; an elusive Haitian housekeeper. The novel's locales range from the Lower East Side to a park in the Bronx, from an exclusive girls' academy to an upstate motel. Along the way, Myra negotiates the border between decency and degradation as she struggles to come to terms with life's unpredictability.
