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“Norm Arnstein has never been married. For more than three decades he has pined for his sister-in-law, Bev. She is, Norm believes, a kind of prisoner to both her marriage and the place she lives. His brother Bruce, the mayor of a small town, spends most of his time hunting and fishing. Left alone, Bev reads novels and magazines, like the many New Yorkers Norm has brought during his visits. He goes whenever he can to western Pennsylvania, on the edge of the Great Valley, Issactown, where the story begins.”

“In Manhattan, after another frustrating visit to Isaactown, Norm spies Bev walking to the Lincoln Center. He follows her there, and takes a seat behind her in the auditorium — only to realize it’s not Bev at all. It is Harriet, a professor at a small college in Brooklyn, there to watch her daughter’s play practice. Young, beautiful and kind, Norm is instantly taken with her. Soon, they are going out to dinners, beginning an exciting, yet often interrupted, courtship.”

“A fearless and often maniacal CEO, Irv Belding, sends him from place to place to grow the business. To Colorado, Mississippi, California, Florida, and on to Bermuda where the most difficult negotiation takes places. When he isn’t working he thinks of Harriet, wishing he were with her. How the demands of career, of family, including a most surprising one near the end of the story, can divert but never end the quest for human connection.”