After the death of his mother, the future First Family embraces the twelve-year old Buck as their own and happily provides all the love and care their old friend, the Virginia senator's son requires. Soon after his departure for Westpoint, Buck abruptly & inexplicably terminates contact with his ersatz family. The sexually matured young man falls hopelessly in love with Melanie, the future First Lady, and subjects himself to deliberate exile. As his father begs him to attend Trent and Melanie's inauguration as First Family, however, his secret is revealed to her. Melanie's task now is to master the circumstances without hurting any of the affected parties even as she discovers Buck's feelings are not without resonance in her heart. A European-style romance in the tradition of Bovary and Karenina, set in the American White House, this would-be adultery novel offers a return to the big moral questions concerning the passions and the battle between sacred duty and neighborly love. The novel revisits the grand narratives of the age of innocence as it updates them with reflections on the moral quandaries of contemporary existence.