Nick and Phoebe Maguire, in search of a fresh start for themselves and their infant son, move cross-country to Southern California, arriving at the worst possible economic time. Instead of a beachside home, they find themselves broke, trapped, and increasingly desperate in the dark heart of foreclosure alley. Nick and Phoebe each devise their own plan to claw their way back into the middle class and beyond. Hatched under one roof, their two separate, secret agendas will inevitably collide. Carousel Court has the ambition of a serious literary work and the soul of a thriller, offering an unflinching portrait of modern marriage in a nation scarred by vanished jobs, abandoned homes, psychotropic cure-alls, infidelity via iPhone, and ruthless choices --