This novel presents the intertwined stories of two American academics in London. Virginia Miner, a fifty-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London for a six-month sabbatical to research children's folk rhymes. Despite her work, she increasingly finds herself drawn into a spiraling relationship with a young man from Oklahoma. In contrast, Fred Turner, a young assistant professor in the English department, leaves his wife and children behind in the States to conduct research on John Gay. He finds himself taken up by the very English and very upscale family of a fellow researcher. Their parallel experiences reflect their shared foreignness and alienation in the UK.

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