The morning bird

"Beth and her husband Jake are expecting a baby. While Beth is having an ultrasound, her very expensive handsewn Italian-made coat disappears from the hospital waiting room. Beth is furious - the coat which was a honeymoon gift from Jake has become a symbol of the couple's destiny together and it's loss now takes on inordinate significance." "The next time they see the coat, it's being worn by Doreen, a homeless woman who is mentally unstable. Beth is near-hysterical about the theft, feeling that her private life has been violated. She becomes paranoid that Doreen is stalking her and begins to fear for her unborn baby. In effect, Beth wants Doreen to disappear from the face of the earth." "Doreen, as she tells her friend John, isn't sure if she stole the coat, or just borrowed it but one thing is certain, she is picking up "vibes" from it and begins to imagine, surprisingly accurately, the lives of the people who own it. Beth has everything Doreen wants: house, husband, baby on the way. But soon Doreen begins to fear that there will be serious consequences for having taken the coat." "As the characters' lives become more closely entwined, the line between reality and fiction blurs. We step into a shadowy world where fantasies erupt: people morph into other selves. They steal babies, prescribe hysterectomies, and kill one another. Each of them will have to confront the shadow side of themselves before being able to hear the song of the morning bird."--Jacket.