On the morning of his fortieth birthday, anthropology professor Jackson Jones contemplates his future: Should he return to Africa, where he did his fieldwork, and live with the Mbuti, or should he marry and settle down in the Midwestern university town where he now teaches? On the morning of her release from prison, Sunny, who grew up in a snake-handling church in the Little Egypt region of Southern Illinois, rents a garage apartment from Jackson. Sunny and Jackson are drawn to each other, but then push comes to shove in this page-turning novel brimming with wit, substance, emotional depth --- a fascinating and original story that delivers Robert Hellenga at the top of his form.