A woman of Quaker background from Pennsylvania meets a man of Mormon background from Wyoming and their relationship flouishes. Both have demanding and stressful careers which ultimately lead to burnout. When that stress threathens to adversely affect their relationship and marraige, they decide to quit both their jobs, move to the Caribbean, and do something they know nothing about by owning and managing a bed and breakfast guesthouse. This "running away to join the circus" proves duanting, difficult, surprising and rewarding, but not as financially successful as they might have liked....

The Beatification of Shirley chronicles the Whitford family's journey through decades of miscalculations and misguided intentions. At a time of society's access to an expanding base of knowledge, Conrad Whitford will completely reject any new information and be very wary of anyone who embraces new ideas. Lorraine, his wife, will blindly second his every opinion because The Bible tells her to do so. Their children will have to navigate their way through a minefield of Biblical inperatives about which there can be no discussion. The oldest, Norman, will struggle to survive in a world stacked...