Jack Gladney, professor of Hitler studies at The-College-on-the-Hill, husband to Babette, and father to four children/stepchildren, is torn asunder by a chemical spill from a rail car that releases an "Airborne Toxic Event" forcing Jack to confront his biggest fear - his own mortality.
When Isabelle Wagner takes the plunge to attend her twenty-year high school reunion with her daughter, Sierra, she comes face to face with her past when she is reunited with her former classmate rival, Andrea Turner. When a seemingly changed Andrea insinuates herself into their lives, Isabelle's world comes crashing down and she soon realizes that twenty years hasn't changed Andrea after all.
When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.
