A penetrating tale about suburbia and the social relationships people form to survive in the modern world from bestselling author Hugh MacKay. Winter Close, a small, undistinguished cul-de-sac is home to an eclectic, vibrant group of people: the dubious Chika, eccentric old Mrs Spenser, the self-conscious Abels, the mysterious Stuthridges and the laid back Upton and Sexy Goods - just to name a few. For Tom, a divorced counsellor living alone, Winter Close is his herd, the people he cares about. According to Tom, neighbours are like family, you can't choose them and you don't always like them, but you're bound to them. Tom is pleasant to this family but conscious not to pry into their lives. It comes as a shock then to discover that his reserved, introverted manner may have isolated him from the rest of the residents. In fact he might not know them as well as he thinks. As Tom starts to see his neighbours for the people they are, rather than the people he imagined they were, he starts to drop his own guard and discover himself.