When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way  they're broke  adrift  and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind  handsome Willem  an aspiring actor; JB  a quick-witted  sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm  a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn  brilliant  enigmatic Jude  who serves as their centre of gravity.  Over the decades  their relationships deepen and darken  tinged by addiction  success  and pride. Yet their greatest challenge  each comes to realize  is Jude himself  by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man  his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood  and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome - but that will define his life for ever.