Hannah Kirkwood, a frustrated painter and writer, has been teaching at Keefer Community College in California for ten years. On her fortieth birthday, and the anniversary of her father's death, she is visited by his disapproving ghost during a class discussion of Hamlet. She then experiences a panic attack which causes her to walk out in the middle of class. As her father continues to visit her, Hannah seeks mental health advice from a slew of odd characters, including Crazy Larry, a jaded old veteran of the community college system, Elvira, a clerk at the Health Forever store, Rainbow, an...

After her boyfriend dumps her for the singer in his jazz band, teacher and trumpet player Jill Sarton leaves San Francisco and moves back home to take care of her dying mother. She finds herself surrounded by the familiar world of Lemon Springs, the sleepy suburb where she grew up and fantasized about moving to New York City to pursue her dream of being a professional musician. When her mother dies, Jill packs up the contents of the house, hires her childhood friend Martin to do some repairs, and plays her last few remaining jazz gigs. After all, there is nothing keeping her in California...

Things are going well for Violet Bloomquist. She's spending the summer housesitting in the wealthy suburb of Bellavista with her husband and teaching a literature class at Knowlton College. The eccentric inhabitants of Bellavista provide a dramatic contrast to those in the grittier community of Knowlton, where Violet has lived and taught for the past five years. She develops a friendship with philanthropist Rita Kensington, who runs a public garden in Bellavista. She also becomes close to one of her students-Nick Wainwright, a young man who works for Rita and displays a great talent for...