A young woman finds herself caught in a complex romantic entanglement that forces her to question the traditional structures of love and marriage during her final year of college. Madeleine Hanna, an English major obsessed with Victorian literature, attempts to reconcile her intellectual ideals with the messy reality of her relationships with two very different men: the brilliant but unstable Leonard Bankhead and the charismatic, globe-trotting Mitchell Grammaticus. As they navigate the transition from the sheltered environment of Brown University into the uncertainty of adulthood, the characters grapple with the limitations of their own expectations. The narrative shifts between the perspectives of these three protagonists, utilizing a close third-person lens to examine their internal conflicts and the societal pressures that shape their choices.

This novel is widely regarded as a sophisticated homage to the nineteenth-century novel, successfully transplanting its concerns into a modern American setting. Critics often highlight the author's ability to balance intellectual rigor with the emotional vulnerability of his characters. Readers frequently note the precision of the prose and the depth of the character studies, which provide a nuanced look at the transition into adulthood. The work is generally viewed as a thoughtful meditation on the nature of love and the influence of literature on how individuals perceive their own lives. It remains a significant entry in contemporary literary fiction for its structural ambition and thematic clarity.