Professor Francis Wallace was spending his retirement quietly writing a book about Jane Austen, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, and other authors--until his granddaughter Adelaide moved in. Her work tracking down a missing Scottish immigrant, combined with the attentions of a conceited upstart romantically pursuing her, upend Francis's life, and he turns to his beloved literary classics for guidance. is an exploration of family and romantic bonds, immigration and 20th century history, generational differences, and the role of literature in our lives.