Journalist Marisa Grimaldi, wife of an Italian painter and mother of three, is living a pleasantly chaotic life in Paris when she wins a prize that will take her back to her native New York for the first time in 15 years. She looks forward to a trip down memory lane - only to discover the city has considerably changed in that period, and mostly not for the better. In the meantime, the prize turns out to be fraught with controversy and plunges her at the center of a web of international intrigue. To further complicate matters, a love affair develops with a most unexpected partner.
Set in the 1980s with flashbacks to the 1960s, the novel explores the lifelong imprint that childhood leaves on us - from our parents, our friends, and our neighborhood.