Captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to tame an uninhabitable land and build a colony in the name of the King. While braving the elements, he is joined by some indentured serfs who have fled their tyrannical magistrate, which makes them all targets of a deadly conflict.

A perfect 18-year marriage suddenly becomes unglued. Rather than just get divorced, Oliver and Barbara Rose declare war, fighting to the bitter end over their huge mansion and every possession in it.

Jim Ferris is the "alpha male"-- warm, charismatic, and successful, he is the consummate provider for his wife Alice and children, Jack and Elyssa. It feels as though nothing can touch the idyllic world he has created. But when he dies suddenly, grief, jealousy and dysfunction fill the vacuum-- until the family's tensions surface a decade later at Jack's 21st birthday party.

A mosaic of American life woven through a series of comic and poignant vignettes. Through a collusion of coincidence, chance, human action, shared media, past history and divine intervention, nine people will weave and warp through each other's lives on a day that builds to an unforgettable climax.

Now, voyager: A young woman escapes the smothering influence of her wealthy and very conservative mother through the help of a psychiatrist and an ocean cruise where she finds love, helping her to become her own person. Dark victory: The life of a fast-moving Long Island socialite skids to a stop when she discovers that she has less than a year to live. Old acquaintance: Old friends Kit Marlowe and Millie Drake adopt contrasting lifestyles: Kit...