Publisher's Synopsis
Thwarted in love, betrayed by her own sister, Zoe DeYoung is a high school librarian who loves her books more than people. She has resigned herself to a solitary life in the big city, content to be one of the masses, alone and unloved. Then she meets Anna, the wife of a fellow teacher, when she rents the top flat of their three story building on the near north side of Chicago. Marcus is black, and Anna is white. Marcus is all city, Anna was born and bred in the country, a quintessential farm girl. Their relationship along with their two kids intrigue Zoe who is always looking for interesting characters for the novel she is hoping to write. Their mutual love for chocolate brings them together as they share their tragic stories with each other, when Anna suddenly discovers she suffers from an incurable disease. Zoe steps in to care for the children which requires her to spend the summer on the farm as Anna's dying wish is for her children to know the child she was, and experience the rural life she once embraced. Things get complicated when Zoe finds herself growing too attached to the children and sometimes imagines herself becoming the parent that Anna cannot be. Will Anna's cousin Aaron (who has a complicated story of his own) be able to straighten out her priorities before she sabotages the best friendship she has ever had?
