In the summer of 1975, Thomas Markham is a slight boy of ten, Lindsey Paris a troubled girl of eighteen. When Tom's mother dies in childbirth, his family is shattered and he surrenders to the warm embrace of college-bound Lindsey, who is all too familiar with pain and lonliness. What they share in the darkness of that tragic summer binds them together and haunts them far into the future.
Fifteen years later, in San Francisco, Tom and Lindsey discover their feelings are stronger than ever--and they commence an affair charged with guilt and eroticism. Lindsey's husband, Philip, harbors growing suspicions, while her lesbian ex-lover, Nile, creates a new triangle of sensual deception. With the arrival of Matthew, Tom's runaway brother, tangled histories of silence and lies begin to unravel. As the group attempts to make sense of love and suffering, Thomas moves closer to the troubling questions of his childhood and the meaning of his own identity.
In vivid and lyrical prose, award-winning novelist Greg Hrbek makes an astonishing debut with this journey into the heart and soul of romantic need--its beauties, punishments and unexpected redemptions.
