Tel Kedar, a dull Israeli provincial town in the Negev Desert between May and September 1989. Here, a rehabilitation center for teenage drug addicts is to be built. The project is overseen by the teacher Noa, who hopes to gain greater inner independence from her partner Theo through this task. However, she did not anticipate the resistance from the residents of Tel Kedar, who do not want their town to become a national dumping ground. The Israeli writer Amos Oz tells the story of a small urban community with its bizarre characters while simultaneously depicting the complex relationship between man and woman.