On Belmont Drive in Dennisonville, North Carolina, stands the Magnolia Arms, a stately house Jonas Grinstead constructed as a monument to love and abandoned when that love was thwarted. He becomes a math professor at Brighton Park Community College. An inveterate recluse, he lives a solitary life till Agnes Quinn, a new English professor, encounters him on her first day. Agnes also suffers from a broken dream. Her novel, Trevorode the Defender, remains unfinished after years of effort. When Agnes, fascinated with Jonas’ mysterious past, pieces his story together, she must choose whether to save Jonas’ dream or her own.