At forty, divorcee Jennifer Mallen likes the

pleasant solitude of sleeping alone. She

enjoys rereading Victorian novels when

her two children are safely tucked in for the

night. She runs a workshop for children

afflicted with cerebral palsy and is deter-

mined to reach into their silent minds to

make contact. She has a firm reign on all

components of her life, and she anticipates

no change.

But Jennifer s simplicity and well-or-

dered cxistence is interrupted by complexi-

ties that shake her firm hold on morals and

her private pursuit of happiness. Her work-

shop loses its funding; her best friend

attempts suicide; her children demand

more than what she gives; her mother falls

ill; a man begins to tap her heart, which

Jennifer thought had bled for the last time.

As Jennifer grapples with each obstacle,

she must decide what matters and what

does not. The strength to go on doesn t

come easily, but it does come at a price

and Jennifer learns that at forty, instead of

leveling off, her life has just begun.