"For what must have been the hundredth time that long day I studied the second hand of my watch, a heavy blue-faced Bulova that my wife had spent way too much on for our first wedding anniversary. It had outlasted our marriage and was still keeping perfect time, which was no small comfort." As this novel begins, a divorced, depressed architect is about to embark on a life-changing project. A crumbling riverside mansion awaits, along with its challenging inhabitants. What happens when we attempt to face the trauma of our past?