Ambitious and determined, Hallie Duer craves to be at the center of her
epoch--with Prohibition and bootleg gin, Model Ts and moving pictures,
Red roundups and the routine lynching of Negroes. The old order is in
upheaval, and the emerging new order is at last allowing extraordinary
women their long-deserved place in the sun.
In this uncommon love story, Hallie, a consummate observer by
profession, learns to become a passionate participant when she falls in
love with a dynamic Irish lawyer, who is married but separated from his
wife. The course of their involvement is complicated by Catholic
convention and a secret from the past. Cool-headed, self-possessed
Hallie experiences an all-consuming love, but pain, disappointment, and
forgiveness are part of that passion.