Amarantha “Amy” Douglas, retired school administrator, writes letters to her absent M. that juxtapose her personal loss with her family’s and institution’s long history in the highlands of New Jersey. Through her letters, Amy Douglas continues a family tradition of correspondence and preserves a vibrant family and institutional history for future generations. This gently ruminative novel ponders the intersection of past, present, and future in lyrical dispatches with the same storytelling brio of Breena Clarke’s previous novels bringing her unforgettable characters into the 21st century.