Andrew Solomon's first novel tells the story of Harry, an American concert pianist with an international career. Harry has lived happily with a man in London; but when his mother is diagnosed with cancer, his life begins to fall apart, and this pleasant domesticity is shattered.

For the next two years mother and son circle each other as Harry questions the main relationships of his life: to his mother, to the man with whom he has been living, to the woman who has been his closest friend for many years, to his music, and to his shifting sexuality.