Plot summary

The intertwined lives of four couples living in Sunrise Hills Estates, the new housing development in the suburban American town of Sunrise Hills are presented; their backyards form the equivalent of the four corners. By design, Sunrise Hills is a homogeneous community of white middle-class Christian families. Each of the four couples enter this living situation from different histories; some just see it as a stopover to something better; others spend their time trying to make Sunrise Hills the best place to live: home. Regardless of which group they fall into, each person regards this living situation as an important, necessary step on their path to The American Dream. The financial price for taking this step is being in debt for 25 years as houses, cars, and other big-ticket items can be easily purchased on credit, no money down, something not available to people in their standing one generation earlier. The surface homogeneity does not necessarily make for a harmonious community below the surface, especially as there is a natural course of outward neighborliness in everyone being the same and having the same views without that actually being the case.—Huggo