"Nell Barber, an expelled PhD candidate in Biological Science, is exploring the fine line between poison and antidote. Her mentor, Dr. Joan Kallas, preoccupies her thoughts. Nell frequently finds herself standing in the doorway to Joan's office despite herself. Surrounded by an ex, a best friend, a boyfriend, and a husband, the two scientists are tangled together at the center of a web of illicit relationships, grudges, and obsessions. The six are each burdened by desire and ambition, and as they all cross each other's paths on the university campus, the tensions created set in motion a domino effect of affairs and heartbreak. Nell slowly fills her empty apartment with poisonous plants to study and begins to keep a series of notebooks, all dedicated to Joan. She logs her research and how she spends her days, but the notebooks ultimately become a painstaking map of love. In a dazzling and unforgettable voice, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight has written a spellbinding novel of emotional and intellectual intensity"-- Provided by publisher.