What to do when, after years of love and suffering, the greatest challenge still lies ahead? What if it’s time to change? With his characteristic ease, Louis Begley tells the story of new beginnings and the reclaiming of a life. Schmidt has it all: after his early retirement, the former lawyer is the director of a foundation, a role that sends him traveling around the world. His hope for a grandchild seems to be coming true, and women still adore him. However, on the other hand, Carrie, his youthful girlfriend, has left him for another, younger man. Now she is expecting a child and doesn’t know who the father is. Schmidt’s daughter Charlotte is also withdrawing more and more into her own world of apathy and hatred. The only ray of hope is Alice, a woman he admired years ago.