Real life unfolds in this novel. Emily Maxwell's husband has died. Now the summer house at Lake Chautauqua in New York is to be sold. The whole family gathers there one last time - an old tradition. They seek a week of peace, but harmony is fragile, with Emily's daughter Meg, the alcoholic, her brother Ken, who is facing a professional downfall, his troubled son Sam, and his daughter Ella, who unexpectedly falls in love with her cousin. Not to forget: Rufus, the dog, who has his own worries.