Connections

It's the spring of 2008, and the distant rumblings of a global economic crisis are barely audible on the peaceful campus of Mead College in rural western Massachusetts. The author has assembled some forty characters from five previous novels and one novella. Some are the faculty, spouses and administrators who form the personnel of the college. Others are financial professionals in New York and San Francisco, loyal to Mead through experience and commitment. Still others are friends, family and lovers Some live and work in the south of France or in metropolitan Tokyo. A few are in their thirties, others in their seventies. In character they range from driver to dreamer, from practical to profligate, from dependable to duplicitous. Their connection with Mead College is the common thread that brings and binds them together. While the nation's financial system is about to founder, the college has also run through its resources, and its president is slipping into senile dementia, unable either to recognize the situation or to do anything about it. The story swings around two key individuals. Henry Cornwall, dean of the faculty, sees what may happen and does everything in his power to avert it. Sewall Travers, investment banker, will help if it contributes to his goal-to become president of the college. Others assume that the college will somehow survive and allow them to achieve their personal objectives. Quentin Royster wants to turn the institution in a conservative direction. Arthur Hirschman aims to grow an Asian Studies program that he has founded and fostered, while continuing his rise to stardom as a student and interpreter of Japan. Talented and perceptive women have important roles. Monique de Granmont rules over her French family with both toughness and tenderness. Caroline Walker stands behind the dean-and sometimes in front of him-as the college is shaken by the failing economy. Debra Zane finds success in the venture capital business; Inga Olsson does what she must to survive, and what the courage of her conviction demands of her. Through it all, love and ambition, as always, drive the ultimate outcomes.