Overview

A second chance romance set in 1962 about reunited high school sweethearts — one a divorced but still closeted housewife and the other an openly gay radical bookstore owner

One year ago, Alice Brown had everything she had ever wanted – except Lee Grant, her high school love who she let slip away a decade ago. Then her lavender marriage ends in divorce, and Alice’s world falls apart. Shunned by her neighbors, worried about her bullied son, and suffering from panic attacks, Alice feels as if she's drowning. When Lee comes back to town, Alice steels herself for more heartbreak. Instead, their relationship slowly reawakens as Lee unearths Alice’s delicate strength and Alice rediscovers Lee’s quiet defiance.

Lee has no intention of staying in the suburbs. She adores her home in Berkeley, the revolutionary bookshop she runs there, and the found family she has formed. She won’t live a life in the shadows again, not even if leaving means losing the love of her life. Yet before Lee leaves, she surprises herself by begging Alice to accompany her, and Alice surprises her by tentatively agreeing to visit.

Plunged from the staid suburbs of Connecticut to the free-wheeling Bay Area, Alice finds herself torn between her stale old life and a budding new life. But If she’s to stay in Berkeley with Lee, she must decide what she values more, societal approval — or love.