Joshua Seigl, a celebrated but reclusive author, is forced for reasons of failing health to surrender his much-prized bachelor's independence. Advertising for an assistant, he unwittingly embarks upon the most dangerous adventure of his privileged life. Alma Busch, a sensuous, physically attractive young woman with bizarre tattoos covering much of her body, stirs in Seigl a complex of emotions: pity? desire? responsibility? guilt? Unaware of her...

"Jacob Rigolet, soon to be fired from his position as assistant to a wealthy art collector, looks up from his seat at an auction to see his mother, Nora Ives Rigolet, until that day head librarian at Halifax Free Library, walk almost casually up the aisle and fling an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa's "Death on a Leipzig Balcony." Jacob's fiancee, the erotically accomplished Detective Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the interrogation....

What impact can American history have on the life of the vulnerable individual? It is 1951 in America, the second year of the Korean War. A studious, law-abiding, intense youngster from Newark, New Jersey, Marcus Messner, is beginning his sophomore year on the pastoral, conservative campus of Ohio's Winesburg College. And why is he there and not at the local college in Newark where he originally enrolled? Because his father, the sturdy, hard-working...

"Jay Gladstone was born to privilege. He is a civic leader and a generous philanthropist, as well as the owner of an NBA team. But in today's New York, even a wealthy man's life can spin out of control, no matter the money or influence he possesses. Jay sees himself as a moral man, determined not to repeat his father's mistakes. He would rather focus on his unstable second marriage and his daughter Aviva than worry about questions of race or privilege....

In the very white, very Christian world of Atlanta society in 1958, New York transplant Ruth decides not to tell her new high school friends and boyfriend that she is Jewish, but when a violent act rocks the city, Ruth must figure out where her loyalties lie.

"Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's...