A Place of Refuge

In 1971, a near-fatal automobile accident throws Izzy Monroe's life into upheaval after she survives with a brain injury that leaves her with impaired short-term memory. Unable to complete her doctorate at Harvard, she retreats to her childhood home on Chappaquiddick Island, adrift and despairing./Her roommate, Maria Belli, confronts Izzy with a choice-sink deeper into numbing grief for her former self or find the courage to redefine who she is and what she wants for her...
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In 1971, a near-fatal automobile accident throws Izzy Monroe's life into upheaval after she survives with a brain injury that leaves her with impaired short-term memory. Unable to complete her doctorate at Harvard, she retreats to her childhood home on Chappaquiddick Island, adrift and despairing./Her roommate, Maria Belli, confronts Izzy with a choice-sink deeper into numbing grief for her former self or find the courage to redefine who she is and what she wants for her life./Accepting Maria's challenge, Izzy leaves the well-intentioned but suffocating concern of her family and takes a position at Portarello, a farm in Italy owned by Maria's grandfather, Raffaello Richetelli./Although unsure of her decision, Izzy begins to find purpose and competence with her work on the land. But consumed with hiding her impairment and unwilling to risk forming bonds with anyone, she remains disconnected from others on the farm./Daniel Richetelli, Maria's cousin and a young Jesuit priest in the midst of a deeply troubling crisis of faith, has been ordered to take a leave of absence and returns to his grandfather's farm to find the answers he seeks./Both insomniacs, Izzy and Daniel encounter each other one night. In the presence of something Izzy does not yet understand, she finds her barriers dissolving and reaches out to Daniel./Izzy and Daniel realize they are both longing to heal themselves in a world that had once been filled with certainty and purpose; each of them recognizes in the other a soulmate and a lodestar./Finding their way back to wholeness takes them on a journey, filled with missteps and revelations, that ultimately leads them to a new understanding of themselves and each other.